O o o o o o o o o o o O
Jean Grey pulled up to the abandoned Brotherhood boarding house that had become their unofficial headquarters. As soon as the engine was off, she turned around to face Mystique, and demanded, "What do you know?"
Mystique arched an eyebrow with amusement, "Now now, X-Brat. A little honey works much better with the flies." She cut off any further retorts from Jean with a quick hand gesture. "I don't know anything for sure, but I have suspicions." The two younger women looked at her expectantly and she continued, "It all has to do with Apocalypse and the two of you."
"Keep going," growled Wanda, getting more impatient in this skin with every passing moment.
"The last thing you remember was me taking Rogue, correct?" They both nodded affirmatively. "Did either one of you try and stop me?" She looked at both of them and knew the answer was yes instantly. "I think that Wanda's unpredictable hex power, combined with Jean's unpredictable power level caused a small ripple to be formed."
Jean's brow furrowed, "Ripple? How do you mean?"
Mystique sighed at the apparent stupidity of all involved. "I believe your precious Professor X has made a grave error and the powers the two of you hit Rogue with, combining at the same time, make us the only ones aware of the mistake."
Wanda glared at Mystique, "Can you start just speaking clearly? Because I've pretty much had the worst day of my life and I want to get back to normal."
"But my dear," Mystique chuckled, "This is normal."
"NO! It isn't. And I still don't understand a single word you've said about it." Wanda's fury was mounting with each cryptic answer.
Mystique sighed and explained patiently, "You X-Brats had a member who had a device for time travel, did he not?"
Now Jean looked confused, "Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?"
"I suspect that when Rogue and I are successful in ressurrecting Apocalypse, Professor X tried to take drastic measures, not thinking of the consequences." Wanda still looked confused and angry, while a lightbulb was going on in Jean's head.
"You think X-Men went back in time and changed something? And that's why this happened?"
Mystique nodded to Jean's assessment. "That is my guess. But I have long suspected that Apocalypse is actually the founder of the mutant race. If he is not able to pass his genetic material, it effectively ended the attempt at evolution."
"So all this is because they got rid of Apocalypse?" Wanda asked incredulously.
"No, it's because they did it in the past, altering the timeline. When the world was changed to this," Mystique motioned to the surroundings with her hand, "I suspect you three caused the ripple."
Jean nodded in agreement, "Everyone who was there was touching one of us." She paused though, frowning, "Except Logan."
Mystique perked up, "The Wolverine remembers as well? How unusual. Perhaps it is part of his unique capabilities. Or perhaps there are more people who remember but think it is only a dream. I suspect that the three focal points will be the last to forget."
"Alright, so we have this theory, now what good does it do us?" Wanda complained in a surly manner. "How do we fix it?"
Mystique pursed her lips, "That I am not as sure of. We may not be able to. We would have to stop the X-Men from changing the past."
"How can we do that, if it's already happened?" Jean said with frustration. "We don't have a time machine."
Mystique frowned, "That is the issue. Did you see the device that your classmate had made that could time travel?"
Jean shrugged uneasily, "Even if I had, I doubt I'd be able to recreate it."
"I don't know then. You have what we have to do, now we just have to find a way to do it." Mystique spoke with confidence that was not shared by Wanda and Jean. They were beginning to lose hope in returning to their previous lives.
O o o o o o o o o o o o O
Marie was finishing a very frustrating day at school; she hadn't known what was going on in any of her classes, hell she hadn't known which classes she was taking either. Gathering all her things to finally leave, she felt exhausted. It was harder than she expected, getting used to everyone touching her. She felt confident though with time, she would forget that her life ever was any different.
As she walked down the sidewalk, trying to decide what to do next, Marie spotted Remy walking by, looking a little confused. She ran up to him, throwing her arms around his neck, "Gam-I mean, Remy. You came back."
Remy pushed her away with a grin, "M'excuser, cherie. You are cute, but I think that you are too young for me, non?" He gave her an appraising look, "Though if you were eighteen, I would say you are perfect." He gave her a lewd grin.
Marie took a couple of steps back, nodding as she realized he had adjusted to the time period. "I'm sorry. I thought you were someone else?"
"Someone else, cherie?" His eyes twinkled in amusement, "Someone who share my name and my face?"
She blushed, "I'm sorry. It's...I'm just sorry." On a whim, she stuck out her hand, "I'm Marie."
He kissed her hand in a chivalrous fashion, "Enchante, Marie." He gave her a wink. "But I must go. There is a lady is waiting, and she is less likely to get Remy thrown in jail." He chuckled and kissed her hand again and then walked off.
Marie stood there, deflated. She knew it would happen. Remy was bound to forget too, and maybe in a few years, they'd meet up again. She couldn't help the wistful tug at her heart though, watching him walk away to some other woman's attention.
O o o o o o o o o o o o O
"What makes you think there's a device we can find?" Jean asked with annoyance.
Mystique shot her a dirty look, "I don't know. It's better than just waiting. I'd rather be at least attempting to right the world, than just sitting by idly."
"Funny, isn't that what you usually do?" Jean grumbled quietly.
"No, that is not what I do, you foolish child. Just because I do not agree with your plans for the future does not mean I do not have some of my own." Mystique shot back, looking over some books that Wanda had retrieved from the library.
"Stop it" Wanda snapped, "I have a big enough headache right now." She continued flipping through pages of Egyptian history. "Are we sure that Apocalypse was around in ancient Egypt?"
"We're not sure of anything, that's why it's considered grasping at straws," Mystique stated dryly. "Just keep looking."
O o o o o o o o o o o o O
Marie wasn't sure whether it was out of guilt or compassion that she returned to the nursing home where Logan was, trapped in his dying body. He looked even worse than when she had seen him before, if that was even possible. She sat next to him, grasping his hand as his pained eyes turned toward her.
"Rogue." It was barely a whisper, but it brought tears to Marie's eyes. "What happened to me?"
"I'm here Logan, Wolverine." She saw gratitude in his eyes as she said his code name. "We don't know exactly. But...We're all normal now."
He squeezed her hand, with barely any strength. "I'm happy for you, runt." He had to take breaks in his sentance to breathe, making his speech laborious and strained.
Tears welled in her eyes, "But you..." She trailed off, feeling physical pain in her chest to see Logan dying in front of her.
"I'm...Too old..." He gasped with more difficulty. Nurses came back over to check on him, hearing his increased work of breathing.
She was sobbing as a nurse gently asked her to leave, it was just too much for the old man to be talking right now. Marie walked forlornly out of the home, a hole in her chest as she sobbed to herself. Logan was dying and it was her fault. Why hadn't she forgotten yet?
O o o o o o o o o o o o O
Raven suddenly looked up from the book she was reading, her eyes scanning the area suspiciously. She set the book down, noting the other two girls in the room with her seemed deeply engrossed. She crept towards the nearest door and when the redhead finally looked up and saw her and yelled, "Mystique!" Raven Darkholme took off running.
Jean put her head in her hands. "Great. We've lost Mystique. As much as I don't like her, she's actually had some decent ideas."
Wanda wasn't paying much attention to Jean's words. "Hey, tell me again what that thing looked like? That thing that trapped your friend?"
"I don't know. It was weird and metal." She didn't really think that any of this was realistic.
Wanda motioned for Jean to look at her book, excitement rising in her voice. "Something like this?"
Jean got up and looked at the picture that Wanda was gesturing to, seeing the caption, 'Mystery of the Hemunupt Pyramid'. It was covered in rust and she couldn't imagine that it still functioned, but it did look something like what Forge would create. "Maybe. But it's worthless."
"No!" Wanda said forcefully. "If nothing else, maybe we can figure out what he did and fix it." It was a long shot, but Wanda clung to it tightly; she had to have something to give her hope that she would escape this nightmare.