Marvelous

Chapter 7

By: iamdaemon

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in X-Men Evolution. This was written for fun.

Author's Note: I wrote this with my brother. The fic takes place in the future during those images that Xavier glimpsed from Apocalypse's mind. This is the second chapter to be posted after a log hiatus. I'm also going to go back and edit some of the other chapters for mistakes and things.

Also, thanks to everyone who is reading. I love everyone's comments.

Chapter 7:

"We're not going to let you hurt him," Cyclops shouted at Ms. Marvel.

The X-Men were standing around him in formation. Colossus was not in his armor while Rogue, who still had control of Iceman's powers, did not take the ice form. Storm hovered in the air above them and Beast was nearby sitting on his haunches. Nightcrawler stood with his tail twitching in anticipation as Shadowcat stood with her hands on her hip. X-23 was crouched with her claws extended. She was the only one to assume a battle stance.

"Is this some kind of vendetta?" Ms. Marvel asked. "I defeated you before and now I just stomped your one man army into the ground."

"He's only a child. You do not know what kind of damage you could have done," Storm declared.

"Please, let us make sure he is alright," Beast said.

Ms. Marvel's eyes grew wider. "I can't believe it. You actually think I'm going to let you take him back with you," she said in disbelief.

"Ms. Marvel, Multiple was just reacting to his situation in an unguided manner," Beast explained and then added, "We have one student in a coma due to our last encounter."

"You're mutant super-hero days are done. All you need to do is crawl back to your mansion and accept that someone better is taking care of business," Ms. Marvel said harshly. "Your group is poorly trained. You've got wild animals on your team. We have dossiers on all of you. I'm surprised that X-23 hasn't killed one of you yet."

"There's more to me than what any of your files will say," X-23 growled.

X-23 snarled and suddenly launched herself forward. "No!" Cyclops shouted.

Rogue released an ice beam to trap X-23 before she could attack Ms. Marvel. They had no intentions of fighting; they wanted to retrieve Multiple peacefully. Unfortunately, as Rogue used her ice powers Shadowcat leaped forward as well. Shadowcat grabbed X-23 and became intangible. The ice beam passed through them and then struck Ms. Marvel in the shoulder. Kitty and her target phased through the pavement to the sewer below. Ms. Marvel tossed Multiple on to a pile of trash. She shook the ice from her shoulder and clenched her jaw. She flew forward like a rocket. Each of the X-Men fell into defensive stances.

Cyclops crouched down and let loose an optic beam. It fired true to the mark and hit Ms. Marvel in the chest. She faltered slightly but changed her flight path to aim directly for Beast. Beast reacted quickly and bounced agilely away to reveal an armored Colossus barreling toward Ms. Marvel like a freight train. Colossus met Ms. Marvel head on. She was taken by surprise and he kept pushing her backwards. "Not today comrade," she growled.

She planted her feet on the ground but Colossus kept pushing her. She reached up and grabbed his hands in hers in a grappling match. Her feet began digging furrows into the pavement and Colossus began to lose momentum. He was slowing down. Colossus grunted and strained with the effort to drive her back. There was a crash of thunder as a lightning bolt split the sky. The electricity struck Ms. Marvel. She yelled in surprise. Her lapse in concentration gave Colossus the edge he needed.

Colossus gripped Ms. Marvel's hand tightly and hurled her into the air. Rogue shot an ice beam and began to encase the blonde superhero as she tumbled in the air. The ice crystal grew and Ms. Marvel was imprisoned. She fell to the ground with a thud. Cyclops edged beside of Rogue. "I don't think that will hold fo…" he began just as Ms. Marvel used her incredible strength to shatter the ice block.

Ms. Marvel pulled herself up to her feet. Before she had completely righted herself, Nightcrawler appeared in a puff of smoke behind her. He latched onto her and then teleported away. He appeared and then disappeared around the street in quick succession. There was one last puff as Ms. Marvel fell from a short height. Nightcrawler landed and then vaulted away to safety.

"You people don't know how much trouble you're in," Ms. Marvel threatened as she stood up once more. She was losing her cool demeanor that she had held thus far. "Ulp!" Ms. Marvel groaned suddenly.

She began to sink downward. She looked down. Shadowcat had grabbed her legs and phased her into the pavement. Beast pounced from above and landed easily behind her. He wrapped his arms around her in a full-nelson hold. "Please. Just let us take our friend home. We don't want to fight you any more than you want to fight us," he pleaded.

Ms. Marvel bared her teeth and sneered, "You've brought this on yourselves!"

"Save it lady," X-23 said resting on Colossus' shoulder.

Shadowcat had gotten her to calm down and then phased her back to the street. Colossus grabbed her and pulled his arm back. He hurled X-23 like a major league pitcher. She sailed through the air. The mass of her adamantium skeleton knocked the breath from Ms. Marvel. Ms. Marvel seemed to wilt in Beast's arms. He held tight. Storm lowered herself toward the ground and Cyclops and Rogue came closer as well.

"Just listen to what we have to say," offered Rogue. "Surely you can see things from our point of view."

Ms. Marvel looked like she was in pain. She was gasping for air. Finally, she seemed to catch her breath. She raised her head to look up toward the X-Men. "I've been going easy on you but you've forced my hand," she said in a menacing voice.

With a burst of frightening strength she broke free from Beast. She pulled her feet free from the pavement and shook the debris from her legs like dust. She grabbed Beast by the arm and spun, flinging him into the air at Storm. The two collided and landed heavily on the pavement.

Cyclops used his optic beam and Rogue used her borrowed ice beam together. Ms. Marvel deflected both powers with her hands. She powered toward them but was blindsided by Colossus. His momentum carried the two of them into and through the brick wall of a building. Dust and debris fell in around them, swirling in smoky tendrils. The X-Men ran forward to see how their teammate fared.

Suddenly, through the hole in the wall Colossus, who was no longer armored, flew into the daylight. He was on a crash course with Shadowcat but she phased and he passed right through. Unfortunately for Cyclops, he was in the way behind Shadowcat and was mowed down by the airborne Russian. "Oh my God!" Shadowcat cried out as she turned to look at Cyclops who was taken out by the attack that had been meant for her. She turned to find Ms. Marvel flying right at her. She didn't have enough time to phase and was knocked across the street by a powerful punch.

Rogue used another ice beam. It glanced off of Ms. Marvel's shoulder as she dodged a teleport attack from Nightcrawler. He appeared in a cloud of smoke behind the masked superhero. He swung a punch at her face but she was able to duck around and grab him by the tail. Nightcrawler was whipped around and his eyes flew open in surprise. He was slammed into X-23 who was leaping to attack. Together they disappeared in a cloud of smoke and reappeared on a nearby rooftop.

Ms. Marvel spun around and caught Rogue's hand inches before it touched her face. Rogue had taken her glove off. She was going to try to drain away some of Ms. Marvel's powers to stop her. "Sorry girlfriend, no mind meld today," Ms. Marvel scolded.

Ms. Marvel was then blasted at point blank range by an ice beam to the face. She would have screamed if her face hadn't been encased in ice. She groaned and hurled Rogue away.

Rogue came to a skidding halt on the pavement. If she was wearing normal clothes rather than her uniform she would have had a bad case of road rash. Her uniform wasn't enough to keep her from feeling every ache and pain however. She looked up to find Ms. Marvel bent over and clawing at the ice over her face. It was a slight reprieve but it wouldn't last long. Rogue turned her attention to her teammates around her. She was the only one left standing.

She jerked in surprise as Kurt teleported beside of her. He was holding X-23 in his arm. "We need to retreat, Rogue," he said urgently. "She's too strong! She took out the whole team!"

"Ah think it's time she fought the team one-on-one," Rogue said.

"What are you talking…" Nightcrawler began to ask but he realized what Rogue meant.

"Don't argue Kurt. There's no time. When I'm finished with everyone, 'port them to safety," Rogue ordered.

Before Kurt could stop her, Rogue reached out with her ungloved hand and touched X-23's face. Rogue felt that she could use her teammate's training and healing factor. Rogue felt those abilities open up like flowers inside of her mind. She knew how to fight like X-23. Kurt looked grimly at Rogue. "Good luck Rogue," he said and then disappeared.

Ms. Marvel smashed the ice from her face. She took a deep gasp of air. She looked around frantically for the one called Rogue. She had absorptive powers and was using the powers of the one called Iceman. Ms. Marvel didn't see her. She did see Nightcrawler appear and grab Cyclops. Ms. Marvel flew forward to intercept and incapacitate him before he could escape with his teammate. Suddenly, Ms. Marvel was stopped by a gale force wind. She was swept up in a whirlwind.

Ms. Marvel escaped the storm and shook the tangles from her hair. She looked around expecting to find Storm. Instead she found Rogue riding the winds above her. Ms. Marvel opened her mouth to speak but was blasted by a red beam from Rogue's eyes. It caught her by surprise and slammed Ms. Marvel to the pavement.

The winds supporting Rogue in the sky ceased and Rogue began to plummet to the ground. In a blink, her skin turned to metal and she built up momentum. She held out her fists and braced for impact. She slammed into Ms. Marvel like a meteor. Ms. Marvel groaned and they both were driven into the pavement with an earthshaking crash.

Rogue saw that Ms. Marvel's eyes faltered for just a second. She had a dazed look for a second but recovered quickly. Her eyes narrowed. "Bitch, I think I actually felt that!" she sneered.

Ms. Marvel was up in flash. She lashed out but Rogue used the combine reflexes of Beast and X-23 to evade the attack. Rogue bounded backwards away from the grasp of her opponent. Rogue landed on her feet and blasted Ms. Marvel with the combined powers of Cyclops and Ice Man. "That's a tired trick," Ms. Marvel hissed as she hefted up a car and launched it toward Rogue.

Rogue focused her attention on the car that was flying at her. She blasted it away effortlessly but Ms. Marvel was careening right at her. Ms. Marvel had a look of grim satisfaction as she was ready to slam into Rogue and take her out of the fight. Her expression changed to one of surprise as she passed right through Rogue. Rogue spun and grabbed Ms. Marvel by the foot. Despite turning herself into steel, Rogue was jerked from her feet. As Ms. Marvel flew along Rogue was able to pull herself along her opponent's body until she wrapped her arms around her shoulders. "I don't think so hun," Ms. Marvel said.

She veered her flight path and scraped her back against the facades of the nearby buildings. Rogue was digging into the bricks and mortar as Ms. Marvel flew along. Chips of debris cascaded down to the street but Rogue held tight. Rogue focused her mind summoning a lightning bolt. It crashed from the sky and struck the both of them. Ms. Marvel bared her teeth but fell from the air. Rogue lost her grip and landed with a metallic clang.

Rogue reverted to her normal form. She pushed herself up on one elbow. She groaned as she tried to move. She was grabbed up roughly by the neck. Ms. Marvel was holding her tightly and was beginning to squeeze even more. Rogue gasped for breath but found no purchase. "Your team or your team inside of you; I'll beat you no matter what," Ms. Marvel spat. She was clearly frazzled. Her collected and professional pretense had been dropped completely.

Summoning the last bit of strength in her body, Rogue reached up with both ungloved hands and gripped her enemy by the exposed neck. Ms. Marvel's eyes grew wide and her muscles seized. She screamed out in pain. Rogue began screaming as well. She was in pain. She'd never experienced pain when she imprinted someone. Ms. Marvel flew straight up into the air to escape from Rogue but her grip held firm. They spiraled into the air high above the city.

They both felt a blackness creep upon them. It was as if some weariness beyond their years was catching up to them. Their eyes fell closed and they began to drop from the sky. High above the ground, a puff of smoke appeared and the two women vanished. Instantly, they reappeared on the ground below. Kurt laid them both on the ground gently. He cradled Rogue's head, making sure to touch her hair only, in his hand. "Rogue are you alright?" he asked and gingerly patted the side of her head.

Rogue jerked awake. She shoved Nightcrawler away rather roughly. She still had absorbed Ms. Marvel's strength. Nightcrawler held his chest and wheezed, "What's wrong with you? Are you hurt?"

"Don't talk to me like I'm your friend!" Rogue said. "You attacked me!"

"You're…you're not Rogue are you?" Nightcrawler asked.

"Do I look like that skunk-head to you?" Rogue demanded.

Only it wasn't Rogue in control of the body. It was Ms. Marvel.