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Oscar Wilde once wrote, 'Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man's original virtue. It is through disobedience and rebellion that progress has been made.'
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'No'
'Do you-'
'No'
'Is that-'
'No'
Marrow looked up from her papers realizing Storm was already further down the hall, having brushed past her in the hallway. Storm stalked through the hallways, just notified by Hank that Rogue, Kitty, and a guest were in his lab right now.
Storm thought about it. Stopping suddenly, she brought her head up, thinking about it.
Suddenly turning around, she saw Marrow barely inches from her, 'Tell Ms. Frost not to leave the mansion. She can have her old room back.' Turning back around for a moment, she paused.
Turning back again, 'she should know where it is'. Storm stalked into the elevator.
She stood there, her hands on the frame of the elevator, as if she was preparing herself for an inevitable brawl. She watched Marrow looking back and forth from the elevator, completely torn.
The doors closed on her and sent her to the depths of the mansion. Her head bent down in a moment of contemplation.
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Rogue stood there, a small bag lay at her feet. She was dressed in green cords, black boots, a black trench coat, scarf and gloves ever present. Her hair tied back, she let a few tendrils down around her face.
'you're disappointed' Rogue gave a small smile, her back facing the main doors to the mansion.
The night sky outside crept into the mansion filling it with shadows and whispers. She sighed watching and waiting.
'You are not allowed to tell me what I did was wrong' Rogue said firmly, her arms crossed in front of her, her feet apart.
Storm faced her, her arms crossed as well. 'You're leaving?'
Rogue looked down for a moment, 'yeah, I'm leaving'
'and Bobby, Logan, Jubilee-'
'-will survive. Remember, you're the X-men'
'Why did you do it Rogue, we could have helped you'
Rogue raised her eyebrow, 'Really? Really?... I couldn't touch anyone Storm. Exactly how were you going to teach me?'
Rogue walked forward, tearing the glove off of her hand.
Storm backed away, but Rogue moved too fast, placing her palm against Storm's cheek.
For the first time ever, Storm felt Rogue's skin. She didn't even know what she was supposed to feel if Rogue's skin started drawing on her.
Rogue pressed harder, 'do you get it now? You can't make me feel regret… Not for this.'
Storm clutched Rogue's hand in her own, 'But your skin, this cure isn't guaranteed. It can last for a few years at best, then what? You can't depend on something outside of you. Not like this. The professor could have-'
'he's dead!' Rogue withdrew her hand furiously. 'The professor is dead, Jean's dead even Scott's dead! And Logan…Logan will disappear as he always does.' The last sentence coming from someone who reminded Storm of a lost child.
Rogue braced her shoulders and drew closer to Storm, until Storm could see the green of Rogue's eyes flecked with gold. 'I will do anything to touch' she emphasized.
'But we could still help you' Storm insisted, 'we know several telepaths who could teach you to control your powers when they come back. We've seen how important your powers are-'
'You think I'm running away from my problems…' Rogue raised her eyebrow at Storm, while Storm was unable to meet her eyes.
Rogue tilted her head, hearing something far off in the distance, a low growl emanated from somewhere above them. Both of them looked up for a moment.
Rogue brought her head back down to Storm, 'I have to go'
Storm searched her eyes, 'where?'
'Don't worry Storm; my leaving has no reflection on you or this school. You can tell the other students I ran away.' Rogue gave a bitter smile.
In a whirl of red hair and black coat, Rogue grabbed her bag and walked out the door.
Storm was left staring into the dead night sky through the open door, allowing the snow to collect in the doorway.
Ironically Logan never left after that Storm thought as the elevator door opened in front of her.
Cool metal reflected the lights above them, but Storm paid more attention to the clicking of her heels as she made her way down the hall.
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Kitty and Rogue sat on opposite benches staring at each other. Their mouths twisted into tight grim looks.
The silence hung heavily between them as they leaned against the walls. They found themselves barred from Hank's med lab, and had no choice but to sit outside...unless they wanted to search out Storm. Rogue gave a silent shudder at that thought; they weren't that stupid, really they weren't.
Rogues hands were laid flat on either side of her, but her eyes stayed on Kitty.
'…how much trouble do you think we're in?'
'At least five weeks with Logan in the danger room.'
Rogue murmured, 'at least'
Their eyes finally met in that moment, and both cracked up laughing.
Between giggles, 'we're good' Rogue said.
'oh, the best' Kitty couldn't help but snort.
Rogue grinned, 'I wonder…does this make us heroes?'
Kitty continued giggling, 'Yeah Rogue, you are now a bona fide leather clad X-men. Out to save humanity.'
'One cute mutant at a time.' Rogue said grinning.
Kitty smiled dreamily, 'I hope they are all like him'
Rogue's mind tried to wrap around the reality of this man, who might know more about the diaries the she did, and he was only six feet from her.
Rogue sighed, her head banged against the metal wall. 'Something about him isn't right'
'Really? Because I say everything about him seemed fine, very fine, even his eyes.' Kitty sighed, still admiring the 6 foot physique.
Rogue laughed, 'Hey, don't you have a boyfriend?'
'I'm dating, not blind.'
'Say that to Bobby' Rogue said, narrowing her eyes and pursing her lips, 'I'm sure he'll understand'.
Kitty shook her dream out of her head, 'yeah…er no, not a word'
Both started giggling again.
Rogue leaned forward, her elbows on her thighs. 'Okay walk me through this'
Kitty leaned forward as well, her arms on either side of her. 'I'm listening'
'Why would he care about any of this other then monetary value, and as far as I know, X does not mark the spot on a treasure map.'
'So what's in it for him? or them?'
Rogue frowned, 'that's what I was thinking too'
Rogue tapped her fingers together for a moment, 'and what does he have, they need?'
'He kept asking if this school is a safe haven?' Kitty offered.
'He wants sanctuary, we're not exactly good at that, and…could we do better then this.' Rogue looked down again, before continuing her train of thought.
'So then what happened? What would make this man turn tail and run? He would have to be pretty desperate, especially after causing trouble around here. But now that he is here…I wonder if we can use him.'
'What about Magneto? Could he be behind all of this?'
Rogue hesitated a moment, bracing her shoulders.
'Even if Magneto has a hand in this, he's very showy, and we would have known it was him by now. Although….to what end and purpose?'
Rogue tilted her head for a moment. She thought she had seen Magneto prints on this whole situation, the explosions in the city, the random deaths...but Magneto had not shown himself yet, and Rogue had a feeling even if he was working towards something, there are other key players.
'I said our Big Bad could possibly be a mutant, at least in our present understandings of mutants. He could even redefine what a mutant is.'
'What about the journals? do they tell us anything furthur about this mutant.' Kitty said confused.
Rogue shook her head in frustration, 'that's what I don't understand. Irene has written the rest of them in something incomprehensible.'
silence
Rogue abruptly stood up. 'Let's go'
Kitty look bewildered, 'what? Where?' she followed Rogue down the hall to one of the fully equipped hospital rooms.
Rogue looked around before entering the room, whispering behind her, 'I knew there was something familiar about her.'
On the table lay the mysterious girl. The beeping on the heart monitor, the only sign that the girl was still alive.
Rogue stood over the girl, 'She has some of the answers we need.'
Kitty almost squeaked, 'are you crazy?' she hissed. 'The girl is in a coma.'
Rogue raised an eyebrow in amusement.
'I see that Kitty, I was talking about her wrist.'
Rogue lifted the wrist and pointed to a symbol tattooed to the inside, a pyramid with a sun above it.
Rogue gently placed the wrist down. 'If I'm correct, this girl knows exactly what's going on and happens to be on our side.'
Kitty looked confused, but Rogue took one last look at the girl before leaving the room. Kitty too creeped out by the girl to linger.
Rogue abruptly turned around, Kitty almost running into her. 'I think I need to talk to a friend of mine.'
Kitty raised an eyebrow, 'uh…'
Rogue smiles, 'She would know where that girl in there came from and what the two journals in our possession are saying'
'Well alright, let's go' Kitty starting to get excited by all this.
Rogue smiled, 'not quite so easy, she happens to live in England-'
Both froze as they heard Tap Tap.
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Logan lifted his head. Sniffing the air for a moment, he turned around.
He smelled the Cajun.
Growling. SNKT!
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Hank peered over his glasses at the young man on his lab table. The young man kept fidgeting and was nervous around Hank. He wasn't sure if it was because he was blue and furry or because he was a doctor. But from the frightened look the man kept throwing around the room, Hank would put it down to him being a doctor.
The boy's shoulder now bandaged, Hank drew some blood for analysis to make sure all was in working order.
Hank smiled slightly. 'You have made quite an impression on most of the students here. Knocking Rogue out of the window is an impressive feat. What powers do you have?'
Gambit grinned slyly, 'skill, monsieur, it be all about skills.'
Hank chuckled as he closed the vial and labeled it. Gambit watched him the whole time.
Hank continued, 'You seem to have known about Rogue's powers before she barely got here. It seems you were keeping an eye on our resident Rogue' Hank almost chuckled at his own pun.
Even Gambit had to give a small smirk. 'I know many things monsieur, including who you are.
'Oh?'
'My boss has been watching you for sometime now'
'A man of science?'
Gambit tilted his head down in agreement. 'He admires your work, and would one day like to meet you.'
Hank chuckled, 'who is this man of fine taste?'
'He calls himself Sinister.' Gambit said calmly, not blinking as he stared at Hank.
Hank frowned, turning his back to Gambit.
hesitating, taking his gloves off and tossing them into the hazardous bin, 'alright, you are free to go, at least around the mansion. Our headmistress would like to talk to you eventually.'
As Gambit was about to hop off the table, Hank turned around, 'might I ask what you are doing here?'
'I'm here to help.'
Hank raised an eyebrow.
'I have skills you could use.' Gambit said rather arrogantly.
Hank shook his head, 'I have no doubt about that young man. But from what I understand, you were against us. Or at least against Rogue, what changed your mind.'
Hank tried to catch his eyes, but Gambit seemed occupied by other things in the room.
'Let's just say…you be needing all the help you can get' Hank finally met his eyes, swearing he saw fear, even in Gambit's red pupils.
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Magneto frowned. Twisting his fingers into claws, he slowly lifted the doctor.
'You fool!' he whipped the doctor against the wall.
'I told you we should do this my way. Your own errand boy has defected to the X-men, and it is only a matter of time before they piece everything together. '
Turning around he pointed to Pyro, 'take who you want. Get me back those journals.'
Turning back to the doctor, 'we're going to do things my way.' Magneto said, with a knowing smile.
The doctor's mouth curled in disgust. This was why he liked working alone. 'We had a deal Magneto, this was mine to do. The boy was foolish. It is a loss that is regrettable, but we can proceed without him.'
Magneto snorted, 'we just lost three pieces to the puzzle. We only have one in our possesion. Clearly we need all the journals.'
Magneto stepped closer to the doctor who lay half way up the wall, 'I have let you play, long enough, Doctor. Now it is time for me to do what I am good at.'
Magneto turned back to Pyro, 'let Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and Sabertooth go with you. They've been practically begging for some action.'
Pyro grinned slyly and walked to the door. Magneto followed after, his red robes swishing on the ground. 'Do not cross me doctor. You would not wish it on your most hated enemy.'
The doctor spit blood onto the floor as he watched the man walk out the door. The red congealed on the sharp white floor.
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Tap Tap
Storm stalked through the halls, the clicking of her heels particularly loud. She took some satisfaction in knowing it irritated Logan's sensitive ears.
She turned the corner and stopped.
The hall was completely empty.
She frowned as she walked down the hall. Hank had just told her that Rogue and Kitty had come down here with another mutant.
She peeked into the infirmary, only to find no one there as well.
Pressing the intercom next to the door, 'Hank? Where are you?'
'Oh, just doing a little research, fascinating work here. This Dr. Essex was really ahead of our times, his experiments are…'
Storm lifted the corner of her mouths slightly; she could always rely on Hank to be doing something astonishingly boring to the rest of the human population. But her patience was wearing thin.
'I must say his grasp of genetics has lead to a better understanding of mutants in the human population, and his work with animals make dolly look like-'
'Have you seen Rogue and Kitty?'
Hank cleared his throat, 'I believe Kitty is right now in her room. Rogue on the other hand is waiting for you in your office.'
'And the new mutant?'
'He's around. I believe scoping out the mansion.'
Storm was about to leave well enough alone, but asked anyway.
'Logan?'
Hank chuckled, 'I believe he muttered something about stringing our newest guest up by the toes and roasting him with Cajun spices.'
Storm didn't even bother wondering about that comment and simply shut the intercom off.
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Gambit crouched low on the ground. Only his red pupils shining brightly in the dense bushed at night. He was chased out of the mansion by that bodyguard of the redhead's. And found himself impressed by the mansion's defenses. But even the best couldn't stop him.
His head lifted as he felt the changes in the area.
He smirked as he could smell the acrid smell coming closer.
Boy never learned.
Stepping back from the bushes, he turned to the mansion. There they were, silent and innocent. He could walk away from all of this. It wasn't his mess after all. But…he looked over his shoulder; he could do this one thing for them.
Silently he crept back the way he came, hoping to avoid the hairy man as well. And maybe run into the redhead.
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After dealing with some student problems, Storm opened her door to see Rogue sitting in one of the large chairs. Freshly scrubbed after a shower, she glanced up at Storm, before looking down.
A tea in her hand, 'I'm ready to talk' Rogue said quietly as she set her tea on the small table next to her chair.
Storm closed the door as well and sat behind her desk.
Storm assessed Rogue. She wore a deep forest green skirt that went just below her knees and a button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up. She adorned her hair with a simple crystal headband. Rogue seemed younger then her twenty six years. She wore cute round toe brown pumps and Storm was even slightly jealous of the shoes and wondered where she could buy a pair.
Rogue simply stared back, her hands fiddling with the tea cup.
Neither knew who was supposed to break the silence first.
'These chairs are the best things about this office.' Rogue commented.
Storm had patience, but it was used up a long time ago. 'You wanted to talk.'
Rogue shifted slightly.
She gestured to the journals on the desk. 'The journals. We have two here, and our guest has mine in a safe place.'
Storm picked up each journal in turn, staring at them for a moment.
Setting them back down, simply looked at Rogue.
Silence.
'Why Now?'
Rogue shifted her eyes for a moment before looking back to Storm, 'because this mutant is getting more desperate. I'm getting more desperate.'
Storm saw Rogue hesitate for a second, and looked at the journals in her hand for a moment. Storm surprised them both.
She pushed them toward Rogue, 'if I haven't earned you trust by now, then we have more problems then we thought. Talk to me Rogue, I can help you.'
Rogue took a deep breath, sorting through everything that happened.
'We have three of the journals; I think our new friend can help us find the rest of them. The one's I have now are a bit hard to decipher and I want to visit an old friend.'
'Where?'
Rogue rubbed her hands together nervously, ' ...England.'
Storm just blinked.
' England? Your asking me to send you in a half a million dollar piece of equipment across the ocean to visit a friend? I'm going to need a little bit more then that?'
Rogue winced.
Storm rested her head against her chair for a moment, 'Again, why am I doing this?'
Rogue gritted her teeth. The least Storm could do was not patronize her for her actions.
'Oh I don't know…because I was a student here once, and I have asked for your help. I believe that whatever these diaries are saying could determine the future of our planet. Take a look out there.' Rogue gestured sharply to the window and the world outside.
'Mutants are dying across the world, and not by human hands alone. Something is out there and it's getting more and more frustrated.' Rogue went silent for a moment,
'I can feel it.'
Storm sharply looked at Rogue. 'What do you mean you can feel it?'
Rogue avoided her eyes for a moment. Looking out the window into the setting sun, only the bright orange glow lit the room.
The door banged open behind them, only to see Emma stalking in with Kitty and Marrow right behind her.
Rogue stood up, the same height as Emma. 'What are you doing here?'
Storm looked between the two of them for a moment before gesturing to the other seats around the room.
'Apparently you promised Emma Frost Cerebro.'
Rogue cringed slightly, 'er…Hank notified me about her arrival.'
Storm smiled slightly, 'Emma Frost?'
Rogue shifted, and rested her right elbow on the arm rest. 'I'm sorry, I meant to tell you before she showed up' Rogue glared at Emma, but Emma simply ignored her. Instead Storm and Emma stared at each other, tension rising in the room. Kitty and Marrow caught each other's eye before watching how this all played out.
Rogue quickly glanced between Emma and Storm, her heart pounding. Storm couldn't keep her from Cerebro. Rogue suddenly felt herself panicking.
Rogue knew about Emma's time at the academy, the problems that led Emma to breakaway from the institute and their ways. The professor had disapproved of Emma's cultivation of her view that mutants belonged at the top. And so she had left under less then ideal circumstances.
'Just give me Cerebro, you guys can argue to your petty heart's content.' Emma demanded refusing to sit down and instead pacing around.
Rogue grew irritated.
Storm placed her elbows on the table, rubbing her temples. 'This is like my worst nightmare' she muttered.
Emma gave a full Cheshire grin, 'Right back at you.'
Rogue snapped, 'I'm not giving it to you, Emma. You're going to use it to help me find a mutant.'
Kitty and Marrow looked at Rogue questioningly, and Rogue continued, 'Emma, besides Jean, was the only one trained by Xavier to use Cerebro, and with better success.'
'Who is this all important mutant you are so desperate to get your hands on that you're willing to come to me?' Emma sneered.
'Scott Summers'
Kitty and Marrow looked at each other simultaneously, 'Oh Shit'
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Gambit stood outside the office doors, smiling. So the mutant was alive. Looking back nervously he wondered where the hairy man was.
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The woman sighed with pleasure as they stood in front of the mansion. 'So this is the infamous school of mutants, what a terrible waste' half disgusted.
Another man stepped to the right of her, 'Play nice sister. We need those journals. And hopefully our mutual friend has found us what we need.'
They both turned to another man to the left, he flicked his wrist and grinned as his hand glowed brightly, 'I always wanted to see how fast this place would burn.'
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Egypt
She awoke to find herself in the softest bed she had ever known. Jerking up, she looked around. It was day, morning by her guess.
Where was she?
Looking around, she realized she was almost bare under the single sheet covering her.
The last thing she remembered was being taken out of the cell, but she had blacked out from the little food and water that sustained her..
She glanced at her hands, only to find them clean and tapered. Her whole body had been bathed.
Running a hand through her long black hair, she saw a set of clothes next to her.
Just finished dressing, the clang of the doors opening caused her to turn around abruptly.
The vizier walked in, glancing up from his papers only for a second before continuing to read.
She was to confused, 'what, what am I doing here?'
The Vizier handed his papers to an assistant behind him. Once the assistant and guard had left, the Vizier folded his hands.
'We need to talk my dear.'
Her eyes narrowed as the Vizier flicked over her wrist, showing a tattoo on her inner wrist.
'Welcome to Order of Apocalypse.'
He turned his wrist over next to hers.
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Review! Review! Review!
sorry if this is not as intense as previous chapters. But now things are picking up, we know certain things about the girl, we're wondering about the cajum,. and Magneto's part in this whole thing.
We have much more to figure out, like what does the order have to do with anything. who is Rogue's friend and how she can help. Where are the other three journals. And will Rogue find out more about Gambit's part in this whole thing.
Hopefully your interest is still peaked. And I am sorry if your frustrated by the answers, non answers, more things will be answered in next chapter, and we will see really cool fighting.
Logan will be do more then chase the cajun. he sort of wasn't really needed in this chapter, but I couldn't help but mention where he was more or less.
