WARNING: The following episode contains a scene of mature sexual nature. Reader's Discretion Advised.
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AN: The second episode in a row with a huge cliffhanger and the first in a two-part special game-changing event! Last week we blew our viewings in a single day record out of the water! In case you missed it, our previous record was 144, our new record is 278. A picture can be seen on Twitter. Thank you all so much for your support on this series, it is the only things stronger than fear…erm…only thing that keeps me writing. :P
Anyway, first of the norm of the season. Get ready for some epic plot twists, new characters, and explosions! Also, this episode introduces the main villain of the season. If you watched Twitter, you'd know who that is.
Anyway, keep up the viewings and please Fav/Follow and Review! It's the only way to know the series is being appreciated. Now, the plot thickens.
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The Morlocks lived in the sewers. They had blocked off the streams of waste and debris, re-routing them to other parts of the city. It had taken some time, but they had finally cleared out a central drain and formed a base within. It still stunk like burnt rubber, but at least it was safe for them to sleep here.
The Morlocks were a group of mutants who couldn't live in the real world. Most of them had disfigured body-parts, changed skin-colors, or their mutations were so uncontrollable they couldn't trust themselves in the world above.
The leader of the Morlocks was Calipso, a one-eyed masculine looking woman who favored guns. Her left-handed lieutenant was Caliban, a quiet mutant with the ability to seek other mutants out and discover malicious intent. He looked like a pale zombie, his soulless eyes peering out and seeming to read one's very soul.
The Morlocks numbered almost fifty. They were split between their various bases under New York and New Jersey. Only a dozen or so mutants were in the sewer base with Calypso at the moment, most asleep or playing odd games like checkers and cards.
Fast footsteps in sewer water alerted the mutants to the approach of someone. A mutant with an inflated head and one arm shorter than her other, stumbled out of the tunnel.
"Incoming! Incoming!" she yelled, stumbling towards the middle of the sewer drain.
Somewhere in the distance, a roar was heard. At first it was quiet, like a far away train. Then as it got closer, it got louder, sounding like a twister, a herd of stampeding beasts, an unstoppable roar and crackle that seemed to surround the Morlocks. They were all awake by now, standing on guard, their various mutations activating.
The tunnel the girl had run from erupted into flames. The flames encircled the Morlocks, but did not burn them. Red, yellow, and orange swirled about them, creating a vortex with them in the middle. Then it stopped. All of the flames were sucked to one side of the room and formed a pillar, which slowly solidified into a person. They were wearing a red and yellow body suit, flowing with their curves. They were tall. Their long hair was on fire, floating gently in the air. What appeared to be a yellow-orange hood made of individual bird feathers had sloped down and covered their face., leaving only their nose and mouth visible. Unseen eyes blinked at them. Flames trickled up their arms.
There was complete silence for a moment in the sewer drain as the Morlocks took in their fearsome invader. Finally Calypso spoke boldly, taking a step forward and brandishing a rifle.
"Who are you?" she demanded.
"I am the Phoenix." The hellish voice replied back, it's soulless echo surrounding the Morlocks.
"Never heard of you." Calypso returned.
"By design." The Phoenix replied.
"What are you doing here?" Calypso demanded.
"I am here to ask for your assistance in a task I have set." The Phoenix replied.
"What task?"
"I am going to plant a bomb inside Worthington Labs and destroy the Cure that Mr. Worthington is working on."
"The Cure isn't real." Calyspo retorted.
"It is, mutants." Phoenix replied. "And it is ready for distribution."
Shock rippled through the Morlocks.
"So? Will you help me destroy it or stand by idly while Worthington eradicates your kind."
Calypso glanced at Caliban and the rest of the Morlocks.
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The doors to Worthington Labs blew inwards, pillars of flames creating a series of holes through the guards chests, dropping them all to the ground lifeless and smoking. Phoenix obliterated the security systems and the Morlocks walked in, Phoenix levitating behind them. Two guards tried to open fire on the mutants, but Phoenix turned them to nothing, literally disassembling their molecules without lifting a finger.
The Morlocks made their way to an elevator, killing everyone inside and taking it to the lower levels.
The alarms in the labs had been triggered by now. Nathaniel Essex, a short, cunning man with blonde hair and dark eyes was running frantically, sealing doors behind him. He had the Cure in his arms. His plan was to lock himself in the safe room until help arrived. The Cure was ready, yes, but Essex wasn't sure he could get it in one of the mutants, much less the entire group!
There were now seven solid steel doors behind him. He stood gasping, leaning against the clean white walls of the room. One boom, two, three…the booms got closer each time. On the seventh, a loud explosion sounded and the door turned to shrapnel, impaling itself in his skin. Essex held up his arm to shield his face. When he lowered it, he watched, dazed from the explosion, as if in another person's body, as the Morlocks took the Cure from his arms and smashed it. His life's work was gone. The one-eyed girl placed something next to his body. It was gray, with several cylinders and a large white box on top. He didn't realize what it was until he heard a faint beeping and watched the time slowly tick down from five minutes.
The one-eyed girl grabbed a handcuff and chained him to the leg of a table. He was dazed, trapped, and a bomb was about to go off next to him. He watched as the Morlocks departed, their mysterious fiery friend watching from the doorway.
"H-Help!" he gasped out. His lung must have been collapsed, maybe a fractured rib or two. Essex took three whole minutes to regain control over his body and manage to move an inch. He stumbled away from the bomb, tilting the thin, metallic table over to shield him. He glanced at the timer.
Ninety seconds. He struggled frantically with the handcuff. He couldn't get free!
Sixty seconds. Essex spotted a glass cylinder and pulled it down, smashing it on the floor. He grabbed the thinnest glass shard he saw and jammed it into the lock of the handcuff. Maybe if he was lucky…
Thirty seconds. Essex dug frantically at the handcuff. He could try to haul himself and the table towards the door, but he doubted he'd make it halfway across the room.
Fifteen seconds. In desperation and finally giving up, Essex yelled. The handcuffed shattered. He stared at it dumbfoundedly. He had unlocked it! He was a mutant!
Five seconds. Nathaniel ran for the door, but it was too late. The lab exploded behind him, throwing him down the long, circular hallway of shattered doors and dead bodies. He was tossed around like a ping-pong ball. He yelled as heat seared his skin off and melted his features together.
Outside, fire erupted from every window in the building, then the entire glass-and-steel structure collapsed, creating havoc and debris, raining down fire and hell on New York City.
Phoenix smiled at her work and disappeared into the night, nothing but a flaming demon.
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X-Men: Standing Guard
Season 2 Episode Three
"The Plot Thickens"
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Charles and Cassidy rolled out of the Infirmary. Cassidy rubbed her eyes sleepily.
"Oh, come here you." Rogue exclaimed, reaching down and picking up the young girl, cradling the younger in her arms.
"She's clean, just as I thought." Charles replied. "I just needed to check and make sure."
Rogue nodded. Charles had been performing psychiatric evaluations throughout the week on every X-Men member. No one had turned up as traitor. Cassidy had been the final mutant to be evaluated. When Charles performed an evaluation of this size, he put the subject to sleep first. Activities around the Xavier Institute had come to a grinding halt in light of the shocking news one of them was a traitor. At first, suspicion had been thrown around rather harshly. The main target of the underhanded comments was Lorna. Magneto was her father after all, why wouldn't she be talking to him? They had continued for a short time even after Lorna had been cleared by Charles. Lorna had invited all of her accusers to the Danger Room and locked them inside for three hours. When they emerged, all noises about her turning traitor had faded.
Suspicion had been tossed everywhere. Laura was a clone, maybe she was a sleeper agent. Rogue was a former spy (the X-Men were aware of her past with the Sentinel Project, and even if her involvement was forced, she had still been involved). Amara was a hot-head. Bobby had a heart as cold as ice and had been acting suspiciously recently. Only the staff had not been vetted for possible leaks. Charles trusted every member of his staff with his life. The only member of the staff who had been evaluated was Rogue, simply because of the rumors and her past.
Cassidy pushed her rusty hair covered head into Rogue's chest and yawned sleepily. Rogue mouthed something along the lines of taking Cassidy up to bed. Charles nodded with a smile, but inside he was concerned. This next step was very dangerous…
Storm's voice over the intercom system called Professor Xavier down to the Dark Room. Charles rolled off.
As Rogue walked upstairs, Amara and Laura darted past.
"Whoa! No running!" Rogue whisper-scolded.
"Did you not hear the news?" Laura asked.
"What?" Rogue asked.
"Worthington Labs was completely destroyed! The government is calling the attack a terrorist attack and have blamed Magneto!"
Rogue's eyes widened.
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Jean laughed and sat up, giggling. The red-head had been enjoying her honeymoon with Scott so far. Several things had popped up on the news, but for the most part, the Bahama-bound couple had avoided news networks.
The red-head tugged the strap of her white tank-top back up on her shoulder.
"Order some room service, you." She giggled. "I'll find a movie channel."
Scott reached for the phone and Jean grabbed the remote, turning the television on. The first thing she saw was a news broadcast, but she switched the channel. Another news broadcast. She kept flipping channels. It was the news on all of them.
"Scott, baby, I think something's wrong." Jean said, stopping on one channel.
"What happened?" Scott asked, sitting up. "Fire?"
"No, it wouldn't be on every channel…" Jean muttered. "I-I think it was a bomb."
"…United States government has declared the bombing, which cost an estimated two hundred and fifty people their lives a terrorist attack by mutant terrorist Erik Lenscherr, otherwise known as Magneto."
"Get packed." Scott said. "We have to go back."
"Yeah," Jean replied distantly, leaving the television on.
"Magneto made headlines last year after the Christmas Rally Massacre in which fifty-three people died. Many have been upset that the mutant terrorist was allowed to return to his old home despite the terror he caused. Just two weeks ago Magneto made news again by breaking the Human-Mutant treaty. President Kelly immediately reactivated the United States Sentinel Program…"
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"Have you found anymore bodies?" Worthington asked, desperately, clutching a rag to his face as he surveyed the smoldering wreckage of his office building.
"Twelve, sir." The officer replied.
"What about our lower levels? Where they harmed in the blast?"
"The blast came from the lower levels." The officer replied.
Worthington stared in horror. His cure…!
"Move! Move! We've got a breather!"
A pale skinned, scarred man was wheeled out of the building. His hair had been burnt completely off. Muscles and scar tissue covered almost the entirety of his body. His skin had melted upon itself, re-shaping his face. An oxygen mask covered his face, but Worthington could have sworn he recognized him.
"Dr. Essex!" he exclaimed, running forward.
"Back, sir!" one officer exclaimed, holding the millionaire back. "He was found near the safe room. He's lucky to be alive. That blast should have killed him…"
Worthington watched as Essex was loaded into an ambulance and driven off. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number.
"Jerry? Yes? I want my best doctors on a John Doe heading to—"
-
Amara yawned and pushed open the door to the bedroom she shared with Laura. The now-blonde had been studying at the library with some friends for a calculus test the next day. She tossed her books down rather noisily and glanced over to see if she had woken Laura up when she saw her.
The room had been dark, which was why Amara hadn't noticed Laura's twitching before. The dark-haired girl was rolling in her bed, her feet kicking the covers off of her slim and sweaty body. Her eyes were closed tightly. She swung with her fist, but no claws.
"Laura!" Amara whispered, approaching the clone. Laura continued to struggle in her sleep.
"Laura!" Amara repeated. "It's a dream! Wake up!"
Amara reached down and placed a hand on Laura's shoulder. The clone opened her eyes, gasped, extended her claws, and swiped at Amara, cutting her arm.
"God damn!" Amara exclaimed, hopping up and clutching the wound. "Damn! Fuck! Shit! What the hell?!"
Laura's eyes widened when she saw what she had done. She stumbled out of bed towards Amara.
"I am so sorry!" she exclaimed. "I did not mean to cut you!"
"Sure as hell feels like it." Amara gritted. "What the hell?"
Laura remained silent.
"Were you having a nightmare?" Amara asked, covering her arm in flames and cauterizing the wound. She gestured for Laura to follow her to the bathroom. The clone did as the clone was told.
"Laura," Amara said, her voice rising in that pitch Laura had learned meant "answer me."
"Yes." She finally whispered.
Amara sighed and wet a washcloth with warm water. "Are you alright?"
"Am I alright?" Laura exclaimed. "You are the one I harmed!"
"Yeesh, it's a cut." Amara replied, dabbing the washcloth around the burnt wound, still wincing as she wiped blood off. "Don't over react."
Laura remained quiet, watching Amara.
"Laura, are you alright?" Amara asked again, staring at the clone's reflection in the mirror.
"They are only dreams." Laura whispered.
"Doesn't sound like it." Amara replied.
"Dreams come from your brain, and are products of your imagination or memory cells. Thus they are not real." Laura recited.
"You memorized that." Amara noted.
"I memorized many things when—ah!"
"What?" Amara asked.
"A headache." Laura replied. She wondered…what was she about to say? What had she said?
Amara tossed the washcloth in the dirty-clothes hamper and pulled out a bandage, pasting it over the wound. She turned and sat on the sink, staring at Laura.
"What are they about?" she asked.
Laura remained quiet.
"Laura, what were the dreams about?"
"I do not wish to discuss them." Laura replied quietly.
"I'm your best friend, Laura, you can tell me anything. You know that, right?"
Laura nodded gently.
Amara reached out and grabbed the clone's hand, placing it between hers. "Then tell me." She whispered.
Laura took a shaky breath. "They are surpressed memories." She replied. "Memories I would rather not relive."
"From your days with HYDRA?" Amara asked.
HYDRA was always a touchy subject with Laura. She had been an assassin for a Nazi extremist group. It kind of ruined her childhood. She nodded quietly.
"Training missions." She whispered. "At first, I was the victim and they were the hunters." Laura stared a hole in the floor, wishing she could melt through it. "Then the roles were reversed." She added, almost inaudibly.
Amara nodded. "You said HYDRA wiped your mind after S.H.I.E.L.D. raided their facility?"
Laura nodded.
"Perhaps they didn't finish the job? You need to speak to the Prof about this."
"No!" Laura exclaimed.
"Laura…"
"No!" Laura replied. "I am not discussing this further with anyone except Rogue."
"Laura—"
"I will sleep on the couch tonight." Laura replied.
"Just like every night?" Amara called after the retreating figure. Laura stopped in the doorway.
"You noticed?"
"Of course I noticed!" Amara exclaimed, hopping down from the sink. "You don't think I heard you get up in the middle of the night and leave? You've been doing this for weeks!"
Laura stared at the floor.
"It obviously isn't working." Amara whispered.
"Well do you have a better idea?" Laura snapped at her. Amara was taken aback. Laura never snapped at anyone. The clone seemed to immediately regret her actions. She clutched her head and took a deep breath, looking upwards. A sign she needed to cry.
"Here," Amara said. "You sleep with me tonight."
"What?" Laura exclaimed. "No!"
"Just give it a try, Laura." Amara replied. "If it makes you feel any better, I'll stay awake and watch you. If you start to twitch, I'll wake you up."
Laura stared at her, but sighed and nodded.
"Good, go it in bed, and I'm going to change." Amara said, undoing the ponytail she had placed her curly blonde hair in. Laura nodded and departed. Amara slipped out of her jeans and un-did her bra, dropping it to the floor. She kicked the clothes towards the hamper and exited the bathroom, turning off the light. Laura was under the blankets, already asleep. Amara smiled and crawled in next to her, pulling a book out and lighting her finger with just a warm glow to read by.
Amara joined Laura in sleep within the half-hour.
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"Is this about the bombing, Professor?" Cassandra Cassidy asked.
"Yes, and I'll explain more once everyone is here." Xavier replied.
"Where are Kitty and Piotr?" Amara asked.
"Here!" Kitty exclaimed, phasing through the floor, hand-in-hand with Piotr.
"What took you guys so long?" Amara asked.
Kitty grinned. "We were answering an e-mail from Piotr's sister Illyana in Russia. She's in Kiev studying-"
"That's very nice, Kitty." Charles replied. "But I'm afraid we have more pressing issues."
"Oh, yeah, sure." Kitty replied.
Charles nodded at Storm and she pulled an image of the Worthington Labs bombing up on-screen.
"Early Wednesday morning, someone detonated a bomb inside Worthington Labs, killing most every employee there. The United States government has stated the attack was Magneto's doing, without any evidence."
"But it was Magneto, wasn't it professor?" Amara asked.
"No," Lyla replied. "This attack suffers from a lack of a speech."
"Correct." Charles agreed.
"Ladies and Gentlemen," Amara gestured at Lyla. "Ms. Sherlock Holmes."
Lyla did a flamboyant bow and smiled.
"So if it wasn't Magneto, then who?" Laura asked.
"That's what we're going to investigate." Charles replied. "But due to the magnitude of this attack, S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers are pitching in to help with the investigation."
"The Avengers?!" Bobby exclaimed. "Awesome!"
"Sadly most of the Avengers are in Latveria dealing with an assassin."
Rogue snickered almost inaudibly.
"However, one remains in the States and she'll be helping hands-on in the investigation."
"She?" Bobby asked. "Is it Black Widow?"
"No, ice-dork!" Lorna replied, hitting him jokingly in the arm. "She rejoined S.H.I.E.L.D. Six months ago after the HYDRA incident!"
"Then who?"
"X-Men, please welcome the Avenger's newest member: Ms. Marvel!"
A path cleared from the Professor to the doorway. A woman walked in. She was tall, probably 5'10" and built beautifully. Her body curved in the perfect hour-glass shape. She had long, flowing blonde hair that was somewhere between curly and straight. Her eyes were covered by a slim, black domino mask, but Bobby could have sworn they were a crystalline blue.
Her costume was a black one-piece with a large yellow lightning bolt over her chest. She wore a red sash around her waist. Her forearm-length gloves had red highlights and the inside of her palm was red. Her thigh-high boots were black as well with red trim and yellow highlights. She walked with purpose and authority. Everyone simply stared as she walked up and stood next to Xavier.
"Rogue!" Amara called as the X-Men filed out of the Dark Room, leaving Xavier, Storm, and Ms. Marvel within.
"Yeah?" Rogue asked, turning to face Amara. The belle was dressed in a dark-green tee with a white long-sleeved shirt on underneath. She had on tight jeans and black combat boots. She had brown leather gloves on her hands and her hair was pulled back in a ponytail.
"Can I talk to you?" Amara asked. "Alone?"
Rogue nodded. "Sure..." Rogue wrapped a sleeved arm around Amara and led her to the empty kitchen. Rogue pulled out a chair for her and headed to the fridge, grabbing an orange-colored soda, popping the lid off with a hiss and taking a swallow. She sighed contentedly and wiped her mouth, sitting across from Amara.
"Last one."
The blonde was dressed in all white with brown boots, belt, and unbuttoned vest. Her hair curled around her shoulders. She stared at Rogue for a minute, trying to decide where to start.
"Spit it out." Rogue ordered after another portion of her drink disappeared.
"It's Laura." Amara spluttered.
Rogue, who had gone to take another sip from her drink, stopped and placed it down carefully on the table. It made an echoing 'clink' as heavy glass came into contact with dense wood.
"What about 'er?" Rogue asked.
"She's been having nightmares." Amara replied, eyeing Rogue's drink. Rogue's fingers seemed to tense up without moving.
"What kinda nightmares?" Rogue asked.
"Don't know." Amara replied, placing her hand casually on the table, glancing at Rogue's hand. "She'll only talk to you."
"How long have they been going on?" Rogue asked, not moving, but watching.
"Don't know for sure, but at least two weeks." Amara replied. A single drop of water slid down the bottle. Both girls watched it. "She cut me last night."
This took Rogue slightly off-guard and Amara considered making her move, but before she could decide, Rogue's attention was back. "She cut you?" she asked.
Amara nodded and pushed the sleeve of her shirt up, showing the bandaged cut. Coincidentally the wounded arm was the one on the table, poised to move for the drink. "Just talk to her, okay? She won't talk to anyone else."
Rogue nodded faintly, seeming to stare into the distance. Amara leapt, reaching for the orange soda, but before her hand had crossed half the distance, it was already at Rogue's lips. Rogue swallowed the entirety of the drink, let out a loud belch, and sighed contentedly.
"Ha ha!" she exclaimed triumphantly, throwing the bottle across the room and into the garbage can. With a more serious expression, she added "Yeah, I'll talk to her."
-
Lorna sighed and wrinkled her nose as she exited the bathroom. Inspections of the Xavier Institute were pains in the asses, and they stunk, as Rogue would say, "t' high heav'n!"
Inspections were punishment for the X-Men, and someone was always in need of a punishment. For Lorna, she had been messing around with her powers and almost broken the X-Van in half. Rogue was livid she had to fix the car, but she was the only one other than Logan who knew how, and Logan was on a mission hunting down rogue HYDRA forces.
Lorna was almost done, thankfully. She had Cerebro, which no one was allowed in anyway without the Professor, the Infirmary, and the Dark Room. She sighed and pushed a strand of green hair out of her face, glancing at the hallway. Cerebro was at the end of the hallway, the Dark Room was past the Infirmary. She wasn't supposed to inspect the Infirmary first, but what could it hurt?
Lorna was staring at the clipboard in her hand as she pushed the glass doors of the Infirmary open. Someone gasped inside and Lorna glanced up. Bobby was standing shirtless near one of the medical machines. He was facing her. He turned as quickly as he could, but Lorna saw something. The center of his chest was coated in ice, like he had stopped mid-way through transformation between flesh and ice. The circle was about a foot wide. Bobby turned quickly, tossing a shirt on. He seemed flushed and embarrassed. He darted towards the door as fast as he could, his eyes admiring the grout in the white tile floor. He muttered an "excuse me" and tried to brush past Lorna, but she blocked his way.
"Bobby!"
He glanced up at her, then looked off to the side.
"Bobby, are you okay?"
The Iceman ignored her, trying to push past. She stuck out her arm and blocked him.
"Move, Lorna." He ordered quietly.
Lorna had never heard him talk like that. It shocked her. He brushed past the green haired girl in the leather jacket and stalked off towards the elevator. Lorna stared after him in amazement.
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"Not, that I'm not glad to see you," Storm greeted, picking up the couple's bags at the front door of the Xavier Institute. "But what are you two doing here? You're supposed to be in the Bahamas for another month!"
"We saw the news report and came back." Scott replied, his red sunglasses gleaming in the sunlight.
"Which one?" Storm asked.
"The one about Worthington Labs." Jean replied. "What else did we miss?"
Storm nodded slowly. "Inside. This is going to be…difficult for you to hear."
-
"So, let me get this straight:" Scott said. "Worthington Labs was developing a way to "cure" mutants, so Magneto went all kamikaze on them and blew up the office room, took over the island of Genosha and claimed it for mutant-kind, and Kelly reactivated the Sentinels. Then Tuesday, Worthington Labs blows up."
"That's not even the worst of it." Storm said.
Charles shifted in his chair uncomfortably. "Charles? What is it?"
"I'm afraid that Magneto's influence has had a grip on one of our own." Charles said, his hands folded underneath his chin. "It seems that one of the X-Men has been sending communications to Magneto."
"What, like a spy?" Scott asked.
Charles nodded. At the same time, Storm said: "Traitor."
"Storm—"
"I bet it's Rogue." Scott said.
"Scott!" Jean exclaimed, placing a hand on Scott's thigh.
"Well think about it! She's a former spy! No one can get close to her, she can steal memories from people without them knowing! She'd be perfect for Magneto to spy on. Besides, she and he were lovers once."
"Scott!" Charles exclaimed.
"What? Oh please, everyone knew! At least the older ones. Why do you think we treated Erik differently?"
Charles sighed. "Either way we've hit a dead end. I performed psychological evaluations on every member of the X-Men. Whoever this…spy is, they're very good, no one popped up the remotest chance of being a spy for Magneto." Charles was avoiding the word "traitor" as best he could, but everyone else was already thinking it.
"The news said Magneto bombed Worthington Labs." Jean said.
"Not true," a new voice came. Ms. Marvel walked in and glanced at Charles. "Charles, S.H.I.E.L.D. sent case notes about the bombing site over. We're ready to go over them."
-
"I'm not seeing anything." Ms. Marvel finally sighed, tossing the packet of papers onto the table and leaning back in her chair, popping her joints.
"Yeah, same here." Jean replied, tossing a packet of papers on the table as well. Scott and Charles analyzed theirs for a minute more before joining Jean and Marvel in failure.
"Yo! Jean! Catch!" Rogue exclaimed, tossing a several cans of soda at the red-head. Jean let out a noise of surprise and caught all of the cans with her mind.
"Rogue!" she exclaimed, moving the sodas to each person's spot at the table. She wanted to scold the Southerner, but decided against it, settling for: "Shouldn't you be helping?"
"Already read all of 'em. Didn't see anything."
"When the hell did you get a chance to read them?" Scott demanded.
"Who the hell do you think gave 'em to Marvel?" Rogue asked, popping a brown bottle open and taking a gulp.
"Is that beer?" Marvel demanded.
"Ah, don't go all self-righteous on me." Rogue responded.
"I wasn't. I just was wondering why you get beer and we get sodas."
"Because that's Rogue's personal stash. We don't keep alcoholic drinks on-campus…" Charles said, directing a purposeful gaze at Rogue. "At least, we're not supposed to."
"Relax, I ain't handin' em out." Rogue replied.
Charles sighed and rolled his eyes.
"So did you find anything, Rogue?" Scott asked, popping his soda can open with a "spizz".
"Yep," Rogue responded.
"Then why were we going over them?" Scott demanded.
"'cause, it's better t' have multiple people lookin' over it, in case someone missed som'n'." Rogue replied. "I tell ya I got somethin', y'all wouldn't have looked near as hard."
Scott placed his hand on the paper roughly, sighing and looking into the distance.
"'sides, it's nice to see y'all sweatin'." Rogue grinned, taking another guzzle from her beer before setting it on the table with a 'clink'.
"So, don't keep us in suspense, what did you find?" Ms. Marvel asked. She had changed from her costume to civilian clothes. Secret Identities were common-knowledge between the X-Men and the Avengers. The blonde had let her hair down and was wearing jeans and a yellow shirt with a black leather jacket. Her real name was Carol Danvers. She had been a former Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. until an experiment went faulty and sent her to the home planet of the Kree. She came back with flight, super-powers, and extensive knowledge of the universe as well as near invulnerability.
"Bomb went off in what Worthin'ton called the "Safe Room". It's impenetrable."
"Well if it's impenetrable, how'd the bomb get in there? Inside job?" Scott asked.
"Titanic's unsinkable." Rogue responded dryly.
"So someone breached it." Jean asked.
"That's the strange thing. The doors were triple-reinforced. Worthin'ton spent a fortune on that safe-room. It's where he kept all his most secret projects, includin' the cure. There were seven doors to get in or outta the Safe Room. All seven were titanium reinforced with traces of vibranium and adamantium."
Low whistles. Both alloys were extremely rare, a quarter of a pound costing in the hundreds of millions for vibranium, and adamantium was nearly unmanipulatable.
"Pretty observant for a street-kid who was blackmailed into being a spy." Carol said, glancing at Rogue suspiciously.
"They don't just pick up the first homeless guy on the streets they see." Rogue responded.
Carol nodded, but continued watching her carefully.
"Here's the strange part: all the doors are gone."
"Gone?" Carol asked. "Like someone stole them?"
"Gone as in turned into dust." Rogue replied.
Eyes widened around the table. "Gone? What can do that?"
"Well I's hopin' you could answer that, Carol." Rogue replied.
Carol tilted her head, thinking. After a minute or so, she finally sighed. "Sorry, there's a few, but none that I can think would have a bone to pick with Worthington."
"Well perhaps it's time we took a closer look." Rogue said. "Field trip anyone?"
"What? Go to the crime scene?" Jean asked.
"Not embarrassed t' go in public, are we Jean?" Rogue teased.
"No! I don't see the point of it."
"Blast residue." Marvel read. "S.H.I.E.L.D. hasn't gotten that far yet."
"And who doesn't want t' be smarter'n S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Rogue asked.
"Well I'm still not going." Jean humphed.
"Fine. Marvel, Charles and I'll go, but we need a forensic person. Like a C.I."
"What about those two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents you took in back earlier this year, Charles?" Marvel asked. "Jubilee and Sunspot?"
"Sunspot, no," Rogue responded. "Jubes, yeah. But I've gotta warn ya. She's a little—"
"Doesn't matter so long as she does her job." Marvel said.
-
"It's been a while." Jubilee warned as the Hellier Jet touched down in the street. "I might miss some stuff."
"Just do your best." Rogue replied, checking her phone and glancing nervously at Charles, who shook his head.
The boarding ramp lowered and the Avenger and X-Men departed. News cameras were flashing, and gravitated towards the new arrivals.
"This is so cool!" Jubilee whispered to Rogue. "I'm working with a fucking Avenger! How sick is that?"
Rogue could remember fighting the Avengers many times before, but kept quiet, replying with: "Pretty cool."
The four ignored the media and proceeded inside the ruins of Worthington Labs while S.H.I.E.L.D. and NYPD forces kept the bystanders back. Jubilee tripped and almost tumbled, had Rogue not caught the back of her trench-coat.
"Thanks," Jubilee gasped, straightening herself and her clothes. The Asian had a soft, round face. She kept her hair medium length and spiky. She preferred wearing a yellow trench-coat and a navy blue skin-tight suit with pink highlights. From what Rogue had read, she was a Californian native. Her parents disowned her after she went full-length "American" on them. She was recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D. much the same way Rogue was…
"Here," Marvel called. "This is where the bomb went off!"
"Y'think?" Rogue muttered.
The room was gone. Whatever had been in here, whoever, they were gone, less than dust now. Jubilee breathed in sharply.
"Holy shit."
"Can you collect anything?" Marvel asked.
"I can try. Rogue, help me." Jubilee responded, falling roughly to her knees and opening up her bag. Rogue squatted next to her.
"Charles, can I talk to you alone for a moment?" Marvel asked, pulling the wheel-chair bound man to the side. Rogue glanced at them, but returned to her work.
"Yes, Carol?" Charles asked.
"Fury told me about your mole problem." Carol said, getting straight to the point.
"Yes? What about it?" Charles asked.
"I think it's Rogue." Carol whispered.
Charles almost smiled.
"What?"
"Everyone keeps thinking it's Rogue." Charles responded. "I trust Rogue with my life, Carol, even more, I trust her with the lives of every member of the X-Men."
"Doesn't mean you aren't wrong. Look what happened with Erik." Carol responded.
"To prevent more salt from entering that wound," Charles said coldly. "I knew Erik all along, I just never wanted to admit it to myself. Rogue is different. Trust me, Carol."
"Found something!" Jubilee exclaimed. "Come look at this!"
Marvel and Charles rolled over to the crime scene where Jubilee was holding a canister. It was about the size of a soda can and was green with a strange yellow marking on it, like a bird.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. just finished analyzing the blast residue. I scanned the residue on the inside of this canister and it matches. Somehow, miraculously, this is a piece of the bomb, one we can trace." Jubilee grinned, showing all of her teeth.
Marvel took the canister and looked at it. The moment it touched her gloved hand, however, she shouted something in an alien language and dropped it, clenching her fingers like they had been burned.
"What?" Charles demanded.
"Not-Not here." Ms. Marvel stuttered out. "Back at the Mansion. I know who bombed this building."
-
-
Here's an exclusive look at next week's episode of Bishop!
-
Chasing Spiderman
This is the first of a special two-part game-changer! Keep an eye out for the next episode of X-Men: Standing Guard!
-
The room Laura shared with Amara looked like one belonging to a person with dual personality disorder. On one half of the room was a luxurious set of furniture with soft, white fabric and rich, dark wood. The wall was covered in posters, the office space was messy and the laptop sitting there was covered in stickers and marker doodles.
On the other side of the room, there was hardly anything, the bare floors of the Xavier Institute and a simple wooden bed with white sheets sat on the floor. A single bookcase and night-stand sat near the bed. The workspace was a simple birch wood. Papers were arranged neatly on the desk, books stacked and shelved carefully. There were only two splashes of color on this side of the room. The first was a red quilt Rogue had given Laura for her most recent "birth-day". It was red, with triangles of various fabrics and colors creating a hypnotizing pattern. The second was the giant purple teddy bear Jullian had won for her last week.
While the room may look like two totally separate people lived here, the two occupants couldn't be closer friends. Amara and Laura had instantly bonded and remained strong friends. Amara wasn't in the room right now, she was out in the yard playing hide-and-seek mutant style with some others. Laura was in her room, however. She was lying on her bed, the cheap cell-phone she had bought in her hands. She had been texting Jullian ever since she had gotten back from school. The two had been making (very) small chat up until a few minutes ago, when Jullian had mentioned a movie. Laura was just replying that she was free Friday afternoon when someone rapped on her door.
"Who is it?" Laura asked, stuffing her phone into her jeans pocket. She grabbed The Odyssey, sitting on the bed next to her and pretended to be reading it.
"Rogue." The smooth voice came.
"The door is unlocked." Laura replied. She was trying desperately to change her perfect grammar to more "contemporary" grammar.
Rogue walked in and glanced at the clone. "Yo're awful dressed up."
"I have just returned from school."
Rogue nodded, remembering that fact. "I just didn' know ya wore makeup."
"I am not wearing make-up!" Laura replied, perhaps a little too strongly. Rogue reached up and ran a finger across Laura's cheek. She showed the residual dust to Laura.
"That's Amara's makeup. She ain't gonna be happy." Rogue smirked. "Speakin' o' which…"
"She told you?" Laura asked.
Rogue nodded, curling her bottom lip inwards.
"I informed her I would talk about it with you at a later date."
"We don't have that time, X." Rogue replied, placing her hand on the calf of the clone. She realized what she had said and blinked for a moment. She was hiding something…
"What—" Laura started, but Rogue cut her off.
"What're the dreams about?" she asked.
Laura took a deep breath and sighed, closing the book. Rogue glanced at it out of the corner of her eye. Laura hadn't really been reading that book…
"My training at HYDRA." She whispered. "At first it was just the learning…this is a sun, this is a moon…this is an AK-47…"
Rogue nodded, indicating the clone should go on.
"Then it became fighting simulations, then fear control, then stealth tactics, eventually I will remember my assassinations, all of them."
"Yo're memories are comin' back?" Rogue asked. Now she was very concerned.
Laura nodded. "Only recently I started ejecting my claws in my sleep, then I cut Amara…" The clone glanced up at Rogue, blinking back tears in her shimmering brown eyes. "What if I revert to my old assassin ways and begin executing students? What if it begins to happen in school?"
Rogue moved closer and placed her hand on Laura's thigh, opening her mouth to say something, but stopping. The Belle rubbed her thumb against Laura's thigh for a moment, thinking.
"McKenna…her pow'rs…"
"I am aware of her ability to "lock away" memories and return them at will." Laura replied. "I am not comfortable with her, though."
"I could do it if you want." Rogue whispered.
"No," Laura replied. "It is useless. They will resurface again and again. There is no way to permanently erase memories. It is like in a comic-book, there is no way for a character to die."
"Funny comparison." Rogue muttered. "Laura, I want you t' promise me that you'll talk to the Profess'r 'bout this."
"I can not. I do not trust him—"
"You have to." Rogue replied. "Laura, a man once told me that it's different t' trust som'n with yo'r life an' yo'r secrets. Very few people can be entrusted wi' both. The Prof is one of those people. Trust him."
Laura stared at Rogue. "Do you?"
"I don't trust anyone with all my secrets, but look where that's gotten me." Rogue smiled sadly. She looked around and placed a hand on Laura's shoulder. "Laura, somethin's comin'. I ain't gonna be here forever. I need you t' trust these people. They're yo'r friends."
Laura nodded. Then she stopped and stared at Rogue strangely. "What—"
Rogue leaned over and kissed Laura on the forehead gently, taking several seconds to pull off. She stood up and headed for the door. She stopped and turned around with a grin. "'sides, I ain't tellin' ya to talk about ya boyfriend."
Laura's eyes widened. For the first time in quite a while, the clone was speechless. "What—How—"
Rogue smirked, tossed a roll of dollar bills on the bed, and left the room, her jacket whirling behind her.
Laura stared at the door before smiling and tucking the money into her back pocket.
-
"Agent Rogue, I am not accustomed to you contacting me in the middle of the day."
"This is an emergency, Director." Rogue whispered, double-checking all of the locks on her doors and windows.
Fury was silent.
"X-23's regaining memories of her time at HYDRA." Rogue said, holding the small communicator in her hand.
"We can't allow this." Fury said. "I placed you near her, Agent Rogue, because—"
"I know damn well why ya placed me here." Rogue replied. "I offered McKenna to do it, she said no. I offered t' do it, but she turned that down too. If I force the memories out of her, she'll never forgive me."
"Then remove those memories as well." Fury ordered.
"I can't! That's not how the power works! She'll recognize those memories are gone immediately. The HYDRA memories, it'll be exactly the same because those memories are just dreams to her."
The two spies stood in silence.
"What about lettin' her know everything?" Rogue asked.
"Damn it, Agent Rogue, what is it with you and bringing people into the fold recently? You're not marching off to death!" Fury exclaimed. "Besides, do you think she'd forgive you if she found out the truth?"
"I'm just sayin' that maybe—"
"Maybe nothing, Agent Rogue. Fix her memories."
"What do you know about this?" Rogue demanded. "I'm the one who's spent the past two years of my life with her. I know what is best for her!"
"I ripped you from worse than nothing, and made you something. I can put you right back where I found you! Erase her memories and do it soon!" Fury shouted. The communication shut off. Rogue cursed and smashed the communicator with her boot.
"Worthless son of a bitch."
-
"Sorry, had t' take care of somethin' real quick." Rogue said, walking into the main room. She was still irritable, but not to the same degree. She was very good at hiding her true emotions. "What about the bomb?"
"It's M'kraan." Ms. Marvel said, her head in her hand.
"McRain?" Rogue asked.
"M'kraan." Ms. Marvel corrected. "They were a dangerous alien race that invented life forms."
"Invented life forms?" Rogue snorted. "That's impossible."
"Well they did." Marvel replied. "One of the creatures they created was the Dark Phoenix Force."
"The what?" Rogue asked.
"The Dark Phoenix Force." Marvel repeated. "A cosmic entity that requires a host to exercise its power. It has the ability to turn anything, organic or inorganic, to cosmic dust, a substance less than the atom. It also has extreme telepathy and telekinesis powers."
Rogue glanced at Jean.
"I know you don't like me, Rogue," Jean said. "But I am not a cosmic entity. Besides, I don't turn people to dust."
"It appears in the image of a flaming Phoenix most often."
"Guess what was on the security cameras right before they fried?" Scott asked.
"Flame."
"Burnt the guards…to cosmic dust." Marvel whispered. "After 30,000 years, the Phoenix is here on Earth and wreaking havoc. Why is it targeting Worthington Labs though?"
"Maybe it realizes Worthington is a worthless little moth—"
"Rogue!"
Rogue shut her mouth.
"I have no idea." Marvel replied.
-
Bobby had a room to himself. He had been bunking with one of the mutants who had left with Magneto. The Professor had found it useless to attempt to give students shared rooms again, so he had left those people like Bobby in rooms of their own.
Bobby was sitting in the dark. His room was messy. Clothes scattered on the floor and posters drooping on the wall. A soft knocking came at his door. Bobby was in shorts, sitting on the edge of his bed, staring at the ice on his chest. He pulled a shirt on tiredly and walked over, opening the door.
Lorna was there, her green hair pulled back behind her, a tight tee and loose pants were her only clothing articles. Bobby was used to seeing Lorna more dressed up, so her outfit took him by surprise. Normally Bobby would be happy to see a beautiful girl in her pajamas at his door in the middle of the night, but Bobby knew why Lorna was there. He didn't want to talk about it.
"Go away, Lorna." Bobby sighed.
"Just let me talk to you." Lorna pleaded. "Please?"
Bobby closed his eyes, weighing the options in his mind before sighing, moving aside, and gesturing for her to come inside. Lorna entered, looking around the room. The only illumination in the room came from the full moon outside, shining through the uncovered windows.
"Sit down." Bobby sighed again, gesturing at a chair. Lorna sat on his bed, folding her hands in her lap. Bobby glanced at her, and sat next to her.
There was complete silence for about two minutes before Lorna finally spoke.
"Can-Can I see it?" she asked in a hushed whisper.
Bobby looked at her, closed his eyes, and removed his shirt. Up close, Lorna could tell the ice was not from his natural transformation. What looked like shelves of ice that had been scrunched against each other, much like the tectonic plates in an earthquake form mountains, created a rim in the center of the circle of ice. Lorna breathed gently, reaching over and lightly touching it. She jerked her hand away. It was cold. She slowly and carefully placed her hand on the ice, pressing her hot palm against it. It was cool, soothing.
"When did it start?" she asked.
"About six months ago." Bobby replied. "A few weeks after the Sentinel War."
Lorna stared at it, then him.
"It was only the size of a bullet-hole at first." Bobby whispered sorrowfully, glancing at Lorna's hand and the ice on his chest. "Then it grew, slowly but surely. I got worried, but I didn't want to talk to anybody about it, so I tried to figure it out myself."
Bobby took a deep breath. "I-I remember being shot, in the heart, during Days of Future Past. I just sprayed ice over it and went on. During the second wave of Sentinels, one caught me. That was the last I remember." Bobby looked at Lorna with tears in his eyes. "I don't want to die again." He whispered.
"Shh." Lorna replied, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him close to her. "You're not going anywhere Bobby Drake." She mumbled into his shoulder.
Bobby held back his tears and sobs. He took a deep, shaky breath and pulled away from Lorna, wiping the tears that had leaked from his crystal blue eyes, creating salt-water trails down his cheeks.
"Why do you care so much?" Bobby asked. "Why aren't you freaked out?"
Lorna looked at him for a moment, studying him, her emerald eyes searching his for answers. She leaned over and pressed her soft lips against his. She kissed him. Bobby hadn't been expecting this, and couldn't respond in time. Lorna pulled away and looked at him, running a finger through her hair.
"Because you mean a lot to me." She whispered.
Bobby stared at her. Lorna always seemed so withdrawn and quiet. He had never expected her to kiss him. Bobby tried to think things through, tried to rationalize things. Then his passion got the better of him. Bobby grabbed Lorna's face and brought it to his, kissing her, cupping her cheeks with both hands. Lorna gasped and adjusted quickly, wrapping her arms around Bobby's neck and kissing him in return. They sat like that for a minute, then Lorna hauled herself onto Bobby's lap and ran her hands over his chest. Bobby placed his hands on her hips and Lorna slid her tongue into Bobby's mouth.
Bobby was a bit of a player. He had slept with quite a few girls in his time, but Lorna seemed to make him jolt. She provided a spark to him, one he sorely needed. He slipped his hands up her back and felt no bra strap. That didn't seem to register for more than a fifth of a second with him. He ran his hands over her smooth skin. She grinned and tightened her grip in his hair, her tongue tasting him. Bobby pushed the hem of her shirt up, his hands reaching her plump breasts and stopping. Lorna broke the kiss and allowed him to pull the white shirt over her head, leaving her as bare-chested as he was.
Bobby stared at her. He had never seen Lorna naked before, or anywhere near it for that matter. She had never even worn a swimsuit to the swimming pool. Bobby took a little bit of time to cement this image of her in his mind before he grabbed the mounds of flesh with both hands and clenched, kneading them like balls of dough. Lorna moaned softly, the sound almost inaudible. Bobby placed his warm mouth on the right one, kneading the left one still with his hand, and sucking. Lorna let out a slightly louder moan. Bobby found her tit and sucked on it, biting down gently with his teeth. Lorna gasped and let her head fall back.
Bobby's second hand had slid into Lorna's pants and was running over her butt. He slipped his hand around front, but Lorna caught it with hers and grinned. Bobby let go of her breasts with his mouth and she twisted her hips sharply. Bobby groaned. She could feel him beneath her and grinned, letting out a soft moan as she twisted again. Slowly she began to gyrate, her hips grinding against him. He placed his hands on her hips, feeling them move. The two kissed once more, united in passion. Lorna hiked up against him once, then twice, over and over until Bobby was panting into her mouth. She grinned and ran her tongue along the inside of his mouth before pushing him down onto the bed and breaking away. Bobby watched as she dropped her pants to the ground, leaving her in a pair of hot-pink panties. She crawled onto the bed and stopped, her face level with his crotch.
Bobby watched as Lorna peeled away the remainder of his clothes and tossed them on the floor. She pushed her long green hair down in front of her face, creating an impenetrable curtain to block Bobby's view. She moved her head down and Bobby gasped, reaching for her, but finding the sheets of his bed instead. He clenched them tightly as Lorna's head began to bob up and down. Bobby groaned. Softly at first, then louder and louder until he was scared someone would hear them. Lorna made soft slurping sounds, squelches coming when her hand disappeared behind her hair. Bobby gasped and groaned and Lorna's head finally came up. She grinned and pressed her lips against his once again. Bobby could taste the mixture of their skin on Lorna's lips. He ran his tongue along it, grabbing her hair and pushing her face into his, melding her features with his. Lorna grinned.
Bobby pushed her panties over her ass and then slid them the rest of the way off with his feet, leaving both naked on his bed. Bobby pulled back, bringing Lorna with him until his head rested against the back of his headboard. Lorna slid her groin against his and hissed at the contact, sitting up. Her green hair fell over her breasts and her face. It was messy and made her look kind of slutty in Bobby's opinion, but very, very hot.
"Condom?" she gasped.
Bobby was kind of ashamed to admit it, but he pulled one out of his nightstand. Lorna broke it open and disappeared behind that hair of curtain again for a moment. Bobby gasped, shaking slightly. Lorna grinned and placed her hips against his once more. She pecked him once on the lips and reached a hand down there. She hauled herself up, then slowly slid down. Both gasped and sighed, moaning softly as they connected. For a moment, they lay like that, melded together. Then Lorna raised herself up, and lowered herself back down, both gasping again.
It didn't take them long to get a rhythm going, Lorna moving up and down on Bobby, their hips coming in contact every so often when Lorna pressed down especially hard. Bobby could do nothing but watch and relish in pleasure as Lorna rode him. He groaned and grabbed one of her swaying breasts with his hand, clenching it. Lorna moaned, ran a hand through her hair to make it extra messy, and closed her eyes, relishing in the pleasure as well.
A rush of pleasure rocked Bobby's body and he saw his opportunity. Grabbing Lorna, and with a squeal, he flipped them so she was lying on her back on his bed and he was on top, thrusting into her. Lorna moaned and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him in for an embrace and French kiss as the two of them continued to thrust and push, moaning. Lorna wrapped her legs around Bobby's ass and gasped as his lips moved down her jawline and onto her neck.
"Hickies." She warned.
Bobby adjusted, making sure not to leave marks. She could feel his teeth grinding up against her skin. She was close, so was he. They continued moving in a faster and faster rhythm until finally Bobby gasped, climaxing first. He leaned his head back and gasped, closing his eyes. He continued to rock into Lorna until he felt her body tighten and shudder. She let out a loud moan and climaxed as well. After the last of the aftershocks rocked over them, Bobby pulled out of Lorna and collapsed next to her, gasping for breath. A used condom fell to the floor.
Neither said anything. Bobby grabbed one of the blankets and pulled it over them. Lorna turned and placed her head on Bobby's chest, near his shoulder so she wasn't on the ice, and closed her eyes, smiling contentedly. Both drifted off to sleep.
-
When Lorna woke up in the morning, she couldn't see. She hadn't slept that hard in some time. The light shining in from the windows blinded her, and she covered her face with her hand until her eyes adjusted to the light a minute later. She was still in Bobby's bed, still naked, and still relishing in what had happened the night before. She sat up, her green hair falling askew around her and clutching the sheets to her chest. She looked around for Bobby, but only found clothes. She was starting to wonder if he had darted when she heard the shower. She stood up, glanced cautiously at the window, then dropped the sheets, relaxing into the heat of the sun's light for a moment before entering the bathroom.
Bobby was in the shower, water rushing over him. He glanced at her and smiled. She walked into the shower and was surprised to find the stream ice-cold. She shuddered, adjusting herself to the temperature, then leaned up and kissed him. At first it was just a kiss, then it grew to be more. Soon they were groping each other again.
"School." Bobby gasped out, breaking the trail Lorna's hand was making.
"You sure that's where you want to go?" she asked.
"People will get suspicious." Bobby replied, gasping as Lorna's mouth placed kisses on his chin, feeling the hair from his recent lack of shaving.
"Don't we want them to?" Lorna asked.
"You don't want to keep it a secret?" Bobby asked, looking at her.
Lorna's hand wrapped around something and Bobby gasped.
"Nope. What about you?" Lorna twisted her hand sharply and Bobby stuttered something that sounded like a no. Lorna grinned and sunk to her knees, sending warmth throughout the Iceman's body, even though cold water rushed down on them. She stood up, Bobby's knees shaky, and wiped her mouth.
"Lather me up, then we've got to go to school." Lorna turned and pressed her body against Bobby's letting the cold water wash over her.
-
"A skirt?" Laura asked, twirling and looking at the red-black piece of fabric hanging from her waist. "It exposes much skin and is less than favorable for battle."
"Well hopefully you don't get into any of that durin' yo'r first date." Rogue replied, standing off to the side and watching Laura twirl.
"Do you mind if I stop? I am getting dizzy." Laura replied.
"Oh, yo'r only supposed to do it once." Rogue replied. "You can stop."
Laura stood rather awkwardly. "How do I look?"
Laura had allowed Rogue to dress her this one time in order to impress Jullian when they went to the movies tonight. Rogue had handed her a pair of knee-high black leather boots, with solid heels so Laura could still fight, something she insisted on. Rogue had fiddled with a few outfits before settling on a red mini-skirt with black speckles on it and a black button-up shirt that seemed to be molded to fit the clone's torso perfectly. Rogue had insisted Laura curl her hair, but Laura had refused. The most she had ever done with her hair was brush it after getting out of the shower and a haircut every three months.
Rogue looked her over. "Pop a button."
Laura undid the first button.
"Pop another."
Laura undid the second button. A small amount of cleavage was now visible.
"One more." Rogue gestured, her chin resting gently on her hand.
"Should I take off my bra as well?" Laura asked, popping the third button.
"Up t' you." Rogue replied.
Laura rolled her eyes.
"Oh, you were bein' smart. No. I wouldn't. That should be good."
Laura was wearing a black tank-top beneath her shirt, so not nearly as much cleavage was showing as would had she not been wearing the second top.
"You look good." Rogue smiled. Laura could see the tears welling in her eyes and hear her voice crack with emotion. Laura hugged Rogue and Rogue choked on a sob, kissing the crown of Laura's head.
Neither had to say a word, they just embraced each other for a moment, then Rogue broke apart from her.
"Don' wrinkle your clothes." She said gently.
"Do not cry, Rogue." Laura smiled. "I will be fine."
"I know." Rogue replied. "You'll be better'n fine. You go out there an' kick ass. Remember that I love you, no matter what happens."
Laura looked at her strangely. Rogue kissed her gently on the forehead and shoved her out the door. As soon as it was closed, Rogue walked over to the clone's bed and placed something under her pillow. She pulled out her phone and dialed an unknown number, biting back tears.
"It's done."
-
Five o'clock traffic clogged the Golden Gate Bridge. Cars filled the bridge, creating little to no room for any movement. One family on vacation to California sat in their car. The father was in the driver's seat, tapping his finger impatiently against the steering wheel. The mother was sitting, annoyed, in the passenger seat. The brother and sister in the backseat were arguing with each other tugging at the iPad between their hands.
Some one slammed into the family's car from behind.
"Oh great." The father groaned. He went to open his door when he realized that he was against the inside guard rail. He glanced out his mirror when the car was hit again, shoving them towards the edge of the bridge.
"What the hell?"
"Honey…" the wife gestured, staring up into the sunlight.
Magneto and his mutant army descended upon the bridge.
"You blame an attack on me without any evidence?" he demanded. "Let me show you what the casualty numbers look like when I attack!"
Magneto raised his arms, levitating the cars with him.
-
"What's his condition, doctor?" Worthington asked, rubbing his gloves between his hands.
"Well, Mr. Worthington, that's complicated." The young doctor said, glancing at his clipboard. "Mr. Essex has severe burns, extensive scar tissue all over his body, and is going to require dozens of plastic surgeries to repair the damage to his body. He may have to learn to walk again."
"That doesn't seem so complicated." Worthington replied. "I need my main man back, how long should the operations take?"
"That's not the complicated part, Mr. Worthington. It turns out your lead scientist on the mutant cure…is a mutant himself."
"What?" Worthington asked, shocked.
"His X-Gene was recently activated, probably in the blast. He's in a coma right now, and once he awakens and his surgery is complete, we'll have to take him to S.H.I.E.L.D."
Worthington wasn't listening anymore. The doctor droned on while Worthington thought. Finally he turned and faced the doctor.
"He's in a coma, isn't he?"
"Yes, sir."
"You need authorization from the closest family member to take him off of life support?"
"Yes, sir, but you're not family."
"He doesn't have any." Worthington replied. "If this will ease your conscious…" Worthington handed the man a few thousand dollar bills. "I believe that is more than enough to flip a switch."
"He's worthless to me."
Essex's hand clenched into a fist.
-
"S.H.I.E.L.D. has evacuated the bridge. You should have a clear playground on this one. We're holding back until you need us."
"Thank you, Director Fury." Charles replied. The Blackbird descended, hovered, and finally settled on the Golden Gate Bridge.
Ms. Marvel, Professor X, Rogue, Shadowcat, Jubilee, and for the first time, Angel disembarked from the Blackbird. The winged mutant was wearing a red and white body-suit with a cowl covering the top half of his face. His large, white wings protruded from his back and allowed quick and easy flight.
"Charles!" Magneto shouted, levitating in the middle of the bridge. "You can't possibly believe that I attacked Worthington Labs!"
"I know you didn't, old friend. Come down and let us talk about it."
Erik glanced at Charles carefully, but apparently did not suspect a trap, because he lowered himself onto the pavement, his red cape fluttering behind him in the strong California wind. Havok, Blink, Spyke, and Mystique stood behind him. The mutants were evenly matched should a battle break out, with the exception of Ms. Marvel, who stood to the side, watching Magneto's moves carefully.
"How can you be so sure I didn't attack Worthington?" Erik asked curiously.
"We know who did attack Worthington. It is a cosmic entity known as the Dark Phoenix Force. It inhabits a human host. We don't know why it's here or why it attacked Worthington, but we're working to figure it out."
Erik nodded. "Why not go to the press with this information."
"S.H.I.E.L.D. and Avengers classified data." Ms. Marvel spoke up.
"Besides, how would "A giant space bird in someone's body attacked Worthington, but we don't know who it is, why they're here, and why they attacked Worthington." Sound to the general public?" Kitty demanded.
Charles glanced at Erik. Rogue blinked and slowly slid her gloves off, one hand at a time.
"Work with us, Erik, prove we're right and you are innocent, then we can work together."
"How?" Erik asked.
"We start with what we have—" Charles started, but was interrupted.
"You mean these files?" Rogue asked, waving a thumbdrive around.
"Rogue!" Charles exclaimed. "What are you—"
"Sorry Prof, I'm sick of being treated this way. Taken enough crap off uh everyone else." Rogue grabbed the Professor's bald head and left him asleep in his chair. Rogue stumbled for a moment. She wasn't used to using only one aspect of her powers.
"Rogue! What are you doing?" Kitty shouted.
"She's the traitor!" Jubilee exclaimed.
The X-Men leapt at Rogue, but her superior age and training allowed her to dodge Kitty's leap and catch Jubilee's kick. Rogue twirled, vaulting over the Californian and kicking Kitty in the stomach. Rogue placed a pale hand on the brunette's face and let her fall to the pavement as well. Both Angel and Ms. Marvel were gaining air, swooping down on Rogue from above. She hoisted Jubilee in the air, knocking Angel out of the sky. She ran over to him, punched him in the face, kneed him in the stomach, and knocked him out with a clubbing to the base of his skull. He collapsed. Ms. Marvel swung at Rogue and Jubilee leapt, hissing. Rogue ducked and side-stepped, kicking her leg out at the last moment, tripping Jubilee. She grabbed the dark-haired girl's neck and left her on the pavement as well.
Ms. Marvel landed between Rogue, who had worked her way back to the Blackbird, and Magneto, who was watching with as much shock as the rest.
"They trusted you, Rogue!" Ms. Marvel shouted. "And you betray them like that?"
"You shore you wanna do this, blondie?" Rogue asked, pushing the sleeves of her uniform up to allow more skin to skin contact.
Ms. Marvel cracked her knuckles.
"Fine." Rogue replied.
The two charged at each other, Ms. Marvel swinging. Rogue slid between her legs and placed a firm kick to the base of her spine. Ms. Marvel stumbled and caught Rogue's punch. Rogue intertwined her leg with Ms. Marvel's and twisted, causing the blonde to fall down. Rogue slammed her foot down at Ms. Marvel's stomach, but the Avenger rolled to the side and stood up, swinging again. Rogue dodged her punches, caught some, and ducked others.
Rogue flipped backwards, grabbed a suspension cord, and launched herself at Marvel. Ms. Marvel caught the belle in mid-air and head-butted her. Rogue stumbled back, clutching her head. That was not what she was expecting. She glanced up and nearly lost her head to a blow from the Avenger. Rogue punched Ms. Marvel in the stomach over and over, making her double over. The blonde may be invulnerable, but she could still feel Rogue's powerful punches. Rogue wrapped her arm around the Avenger's neck and flipped her over onto her back, the Belle placing her boot at Ms. Marvel's throat.
"It's over!"
"Like hell." Marvel replied, grabbing Rogue's leg and throwing her to the ground. Both girls made it back to their feet, circling each other. When Marvel's back was to the edge of the bridge, Rogue rushed her. Marvel swung. Rogue ducked, planting her head in the Avenger's stomach and nailing her against the wall of the bridge. She slammed her into the bridge over and over, until Marvel clubbed Rogue's head and turned the tables, placing Rogue against the wall of the bridge.
The X-Men were starting to wake up with groans and moans. Rogue was taking too long. Ms. Marvel went to headbutt her, and Rogue caught her face with her two bare hands, draining her. Something was wrong. Rogue was only supposed to knock them out, but she could feel Ms. Marvel's power leeching into her, she could feel her memories flooding her brain. Secret codes, secret identities, locations of various weapons and prisons, Rogue could see it all in her mind.
Something else was wrong. Rogue couldn't let go. She tried pulling away, but she was pinned against the bridge. She continued draining Ms. Marvel. She had Kree powers, and was taking much longer to drain than anyone else Rogue had ever touched, but even she was nearing her limit. Rogue heard her gasp and finally stumble away. Rogue gasped and fell to her knees, all of her powers and memories flooding into her mind.
'Damn it!' she thought, slapping the concrete. It cracked beneath her and she remembered Marvel's super-strength.
The Avenger stumbled against the railing and fell. Rogue darted to the edge of the bridge and watched as she fell. She could do nothing now, Marvel was left to her own means.
Something flew past Rogue. It was Angel, diving towards the river.
"Let's get the hell outta here." Rogue shouted, running towards Magneto. The Master of Magnetism smiled and led her into the purple portal, then they all disappeared in a blink.
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The front doors of the hospital blew off. Nathaniel Essex levitated a few inches off of the sidewalk. His pale skin and exposed muscle screamed in agony from the sun. Essex grinned through the pain.
"Power!" he shouted. "Unlimited…POWER!"
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X-Men: Standing Guard Will Return Shortly
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