Chapter 11
The day at the beach was a landmark event for the young mutants, the first time ever that they'd all been able to get along with one another. Even the younger X-men had joined in the game, once they'd gotten over their fear of the brotherhood. Most people weren't really surprised by the change in attitude, what they were probably shocked by was how easy it was to get along with the other side of mutants if you forgot your prejudices. Evan was perhaps an exception to this, but he seemed happy enough to take out his frustration at Pietro on the volleyball court.
Rogue really couldn't remember being this happy. She had friends, and they were getting along, playing together just like normal teenagers. She had a family now, all be it a bizarre one. And she had Pietro. And Scott.
And there was her problem.
Try as Rogue could, she couldn't find the heart to tell Scott that Pietro was whom she wanted to be with. This made her question her feelings for Scott, and made her wander if Pietro was the one she should have the talk with. Yet when she thought about letting quicksilver go, she felt a pain in her chest the was so strong she had to take a few moments to get over it, and this just put her back where she had started. Rogue knew she would have to do something about it all, she already felt like a complete bitch for leading the two of them on for this long. True, she had never actually kissed Scott, though she had done nothing to push him away. Why not?
After coming back from the beach, Rogue bade the rest of the X-men goodnight and said that she had a headache and needed to sleep. In truth she collapsed onto her bed with her eyes wide open, staring up at the darkened ceiling of her room as if it held all the secrets of the universe. She couldn't decide, it was just too damn hard. Every time she resolved to do something, she felt some sort of emotion that took her right back to where she had started.
It was about half an hour later when Rogue did decide a course of action; she would talk to Lance about it. She reached for the phone and dialled the number that she knew so well, feeling a little guilty that she kept calling on Lance to sort out her problems. She would of course go to Kurt, but somehow she felt his advice might be a little less practical than was required.
The phone rang twice before Fred answered it. 'Hey, who's calling?' he asked.
'Hi Fred' Rogue replied, knowing exactly who it was just from the tone of voice. Fred's response was automatic. He put the phone down and began to yell for Pietro, but Rogue cut him off before the second syllable could escape his mouth.
'No Fred, actually I wanted to talk to Lance.' She said, almost imagining the confused look that had crossed her friends face.
In the Brotherhood house, Fred shrugged his shoulders and threw the phone to Lance, who had been listening from the entrance to the kitchen. Lance held the phone to his ear with one hand as he tried to open the boxes from the pizza takeaway with the other. He didn't even say hi, as he knew it was Rogue on the phone from what he'd heard before.
'What's up Rogue?'
Her voice was quiet, with a little hint of a plea in it. 'I need to talk to you, in person. I sort of have a problem I need your help with. And you can't tell Pietro about it.'
Lance couldn't stop himself agreeing to meet her. He had absolutely no idea how he had suddenly become so protective of Rogue, it really wasn't in his nature to behave in such a brotherly way.
That, he supposed as he said goodbye to the guys and started up the car, was before he met the X-men.
Rogue put the phone down with an expression of satisfaction on her face. As guilty as she felt for getting Lance's continued help with her problems, it felt good to know there was someone like that she could go to.
She took a final swig of water from her bedside table, failing to notice the slight difference in taste that was now present, and glanced back at her now empty bed, and then remembered something. Putting a hand to the necklace that was permanently worn round her neck, she split herself into two people, just as Multiple would accidentally do. Being fully in control of this power, she commanded her double to lie in the bed, and looked back at it with a devious smile as she slipped silently out of the mansion grounds.
If Rogue had looked a little more around the grounds she was escaping, she would realise that she was by no means the only person who was moving around that night. For on the other side of the fence, a silver blur was climbing the walls to get into the institute. In the garage of the mansion, two figures were preparing for a little trip. One got into the car, as the other glided silently back into the mansion to instigate the next part of his plan. And following him was another figure, whose shadows changed continuously to hide her true appearance.
Pietro swept into the X-men mansion in his usual silver blur. He did not, however, go to Rogue's bedroom as she usually did. Instead he ran round the edge of the building, until he saw the person he was looking for, standing near the window and looking out with an unreadable expression on their face.
Scott was shocked to see Pietro standing at his door when he opened it, as he was the root of the problem he had spent the last hour wandering about.
The silver haired boy looked at him with a neutral expression. 'Can I come in?'
Jean looked one last time at the map that was on the empty front seat of her car, before giving a satisfied nod and heading off down a road leading to a familiar building. The professor would have been proud of her. She let herself in the door by breaking the lock with her power, and headed apprehensively for the most secured area of the building, sending a message back to her mentor to say that their plan would soon be in motion.
The professor gave a little nod before looking round at his students, who were gathered around the dinner table, finishing off the dregs of Storms meal. Neither Scott nor Rogue was present, which made him even more pleased. He cleared his throat to secure their attention.
'I need a couple of you to run a little errand for me. There's a man on the other side of town who is a dear friend of mine. However, he is not a mutant and has no idea of how to get to the mansion. I need a couple of you to run over there and pick him up, being as Storm and Logan are a bit busy at the moment.'
From the greenhouse, a loud clap of thunder and the sound of rain could be heard, signifying just where Storm was. Nobody wanted to guess what Wolverine was up to at that moment.
Several of the new recruits stuck up their hands, eager to please their new professor, who smiled indulgently at them.
'Bobby, could you and Rahne go over and pick him up. Take the bikes, he'll have a car I'm sure, so you only have to ride the way there.'
Bobby's chest swelled with pride at being signalled out. He and Rahne grabbed their coats and headed towards the door. The professor called to them as they were leaving.
'Don't be out too late, it's going to get very dark soon.' He turned back to the other teenagers, the smile on his face wider than ever. The bug in the corner of the room followed him as he left, wondering what the hell he was up to.
'…So you see Lance. I don't know what to do; I have to let go of one of them. But Scott is so warm and supportive, and Pietro is, I don't know how to describe it. It feels as though, as though if I knew I'd never see him again, I'd never want to see anyone again ever, as though I would rather die than lose him. And yet I can't find it in myself to tell Scott that. Which means I must have feelings for him too…'
'Or that you don't want to hurt him because he is your friend.' Lance suggested softly, causing Rouge to give him a pained expression. Lance took her hand and poke gently.
'Look, I'm not saying go for Pietro because he's my best friend, I mean Scott has actually turned into an all right guy. But looking at the two of you together, there's just something there that you don't see everyday. Like you would sacrifice yourselves for the other in a heartbeat. And besides, I don't know about Scott, but Pietro is in love with you.'
Rogue said nothing, she just stared out at the grass. Finally she turned back to Lance, completely changing the subject.
'Do you and Kitty have that whole 'sacrifice thing'?' she asked, smiling as he turned away and looked down.
'I, well I guess so.' He said, and Rogue laughed as spots of red began to creep onto his face. Lance buried his head in his hands and groaned, and Rogue giggled even more, before patting him on the back.
'Say no more Lance, I understand. And I shan't tell Kitty, mainly because I don't want the mansion to fall down from the shrieks that would inevitably follow my telling her.'
At this Lance joined in her laughter, before looking at her seriously, concern in his eyes.
'Seriously though, are you all right now?' he asked cautiously.
Rogue looked at him, resolve now written in every part of her face. 'Yeah, thank you. I know what I have to do now. I've made a decision.'
There was a tense silence in Scott Summers room at that point. Pietro had just phrased the situation to Scott, quoting word for word the speech he had practised in his head the 2 minutes it had taken him to get to the mansion. They were both in love with Rogue, and she wanted them to be friends. What were they going to do about it?
Scott ran a hand over his face in a tired manner, as though he had asked the question himself a hundred times before. Both boys had seen just how happy Rogue had looked at the beach, how pleased she was that Brotherhood and X-men were getting along. And both boys wanted to see her happy. Perhaps there lay their solution.
'Look' Scott said slowly. 'There's only one thing that we can do, we have to let Rogue make a decision, and we have to respect it when she does. If we want her to be happy, that's the only thing we can do.'
The other boy nodded slightly in agreement, but Scott had caught the pained look that had crept into his eyes when he had mentioned Rogue 'deciding', and he knew what was going through Pietro's head. He was contemplating what would happen if Rogue chose not to be with him. And Scott could see that that scenario was tearing him apart. He bowed his head, and wondered what he would feel if Rogue rejected him. The idea that she would stay with Pietro just didn't make sense, he and Rogue were perfect together, and they got on so well. Yet he could tell that Pietro was in love with her. Scott was now more confused than he'd been before Pietro arrived.
Quicksilver looked at him and spoke again. 'What do we do? Do we keep being friendly towards one another? Not that we were that friendly before' he added.
Scott was unsure how to answer this question. He had never had a particular problem with Pietro Maximoff, other than him being a member of the Brotherhood. Yet he had no real desire to become all friendly with him either.
It was Pietro that answered his own question. 'I think, if it makes Rogue happy, we should do it.' he paused, 'whatever her decision.'
Scott didn't think he could find a better response than to nod, and the boys were again left in silence.
Jean ducked as another security guard walked past. She focused her power, and caused a door up the hallway to slam open, causing the man who was walking in her direction to stop and ran back the way he had come. She was entirely intent upon completing her mission.
Finally, about half an hour after entering the building, Jean found her way into the most secure room, and in the centre, surrounded by a huge glass tank, was Juggernaut. The Professor's half brother.
Jean walked forward, feeling more nervous than ever before. She had seen the damage that Juggernaut had caused the last time he was let loose. Though, she supposed as she gathered herself together, this time her and the professor were in control. She held in her hand a device that Xavier had made since placing Juggernaut back in captivity; it allowed them to control him and his movements once it was placed on his helmet, by a particularly strong blast of what the professor liked to call 'psychic radiation'. Jean really didn't care how it happened, as long as it worked.
She took a deep breath, and pressed the button that would release the gigantic mutant from his prison. The professor had told her that she would have only a few seconds to place the device on his helmet before he became fully aware of his surroundings and began to cause some damage. But Jean was ready; she would do what it takes to get rid of Rogue, and to bring Scott back.
The glass had fully lifted now; the light was giving the whole room an almost otherworldly glow. It was time. Jean raised the small device with her mind, and sent it flying towards Juggernaut, who was looking around the room, beginning to realise just where it was he was. The chip like object snapped onto the side of his metal helmet, and Juggernaut let out a cry of surprised agony as the effects of the device began to kick in. he sank to his knees and the floor shook, but then he stopped, as docile as he had ever been.
Jean smiled and walked right over to him, her previous fear completely forgotten. Juggernaut did nothing to harm her, and this caused a relieved smile to spread across the face of the red head. She put a hand to her forehead, and silently gave her weapon his instructions. She then slipped back into her car and left Juggernaut to do his work.
The rest of the X-men were currently engaged in the watching of the television, Evan especially, being that it was his night to watch what he wanted, and naturally he had chosen sports. The younger members of the team were a little scared to see him jump up and down and yell at the screen in a most disturbing manner. Nobody really noticed when Rogue popped out of nowhere and sat down to join them. Kitty motioned for her to join her, and the two of them sat giggling, as Evan got angrier and angrier.
Heads did turn however, as Scott and Pietro came down the stairs together. Most the X-men were shocked to see Pietro walking about in the mansion as if he was one of them, but to see Scott with him was absolutely shocking. Even Rogue, Kurt and Kitty looked a little surprised to see the two of them together and not wanting to rip out each others throats, particularly as they were rivals for Rogue's affections. The girl sprang up to meet them both, an anxious look in her eyes.
'Look, both of you. I really need to talk to you. I've been doing a lot of thinking..'
Rogue was cut off by Jean running into the room in a total state of panic. 'Turn on the news!' she cried.
Kurt ripped the remote control from Evan, who let out a cry of protest. He switched the channel to the news, and the teens all stared in horror at what they saw.
The picture showed Juggernaut moving wildly through the streets, trashing almost everything in view. Things were brought to an even higher state of panic in the house when Kitty read the street sign behind the chaos.
'Oh my god!' she shrieked. 'Like that's where Bobby and Rahne went!'
The X-men all began talking and shouting at once, Pietro joining in. rogue's face had looked stricken when she had heard Bobby's name.
This was the situation that Professor Xavier found his students' in. he held up his hand for silence, and they obeyed instantly, wanting for someone to tell them what to do. Xavier noted Pietro's presence, and put it down to him visiting Rogue.
'Before anyone explains, I have heard the radio myself. We need to assemble a team immediately to subdue Juggernaut and to retrieve out students.
Scott immediately stepped into his organisational mode, but he was stopped by Rogue's interrupting him.
'I'll go. I can stop him.' she spoke as though there would be no acceptable response to dissuade her from going. The Professor looked at her long and hard, before he nodded his consent. Rogue glanced at her friends before she left the house, and an empty silence followed her departure. This was broken only when Xavier motioned for Jean to follow him into his office to discuss what she had seen or heard. They shut the door with a soft sound, causing the built up tension in the room to shatter.
Kurt was beside himself. 'What was he thinking, letting her go?' she's my little sister, something might happen to her, there'll be nobody to help her, she..' he was cut off by Kitty putting a hand over his mouth. The rest of the room was shocked; nobody had ever seen Kurt this upset before.
Pietro too was what one could call worried. Though panicked would probably have been a better word. Rogue had gone to fight Juggernaut. Alone. Unarmed. Well not exactly unarmed, he reasoned. Rogue had proven in times past that she could look after herself perfectly well. But just staying at home waiting whilst she was out fighting alone? He felt completely helpless. But then, he reasoned again, he wasn't an X-men, and he never followed orders.
He looked round at the others, especially at Kurt. 'I'm going to help her. Don't worry Elf, I'll look after her.' He didn't let Kitty get her argument out before he had sped out the door, practically blowing the door of the mansion off of its hinges.
Despite Pietro's promise, Kurt didn't really look that consoled. Kitty sat down with him and hugged him, and Scott came over too, a darkness in his eyes that Kitty had never seen before. 'She'll be all right' he said, trying to convince everybody including himself. 'Remember what she did in the danger room? She could take out Juggernaut any day.'
The rest of the X-men nodded, and they sat in silence again, knowing that there was nothing left to do now but wait.
Professor Xavier closed the door behind him as Jean walked into his office. He was completely unaware of the fact that the bug that had followed him for sometime now had again slipped into his office, listening intently to what he was saying.
'You put the chip on him Jean?' he asked, even though he knew that all must have gone as planned. She nodded, and the professor let the triumph begin to sink in.
He looked at his best student, and was surprised to see that she was clearly still worried by something. 'Jean, what is the matter?'
She looked at him worriedly. 'Its just that, what if Rogue doesn't use her psychic powers to try and get rid of Juggernaut. All the poisoning, and the planning, it will all have gone to waste. We'll have accomplished nothing.' She hung her head.
The professor tried to reassure her. 'Jean, I am convinced that Rogue will use her mind power to try and save the others, and as long as she took that last cup of water she should fail. Remember, I was right about her offering to go after them wasn't I?'
Jean smiled slightly, and the professor leant back in his chair, waiting for news that their little problem had been eliminated, as the bug that had been listening slipped frantically under the door, determined to stop Rogue before it was too late.
On the other side of town, Rogue was racing towards her destination. She didn't even have to think about directions, she just needed to follow the path of destruction that Juggernaut had left. She finally found what she was looking for as she turned the street corner and saw Juggernaut at the other end of the road, looming over the two terrified X-men. As she watched, Bobby tried to erect a wall of ice, but with a flick of his finger, Juggernaut shattered it into a thousand pieces. Bobby looked utterly desperate, and Juggernaut began to raise his hand again.
With lightning speed, Rogue rushed forward and intercepted the giant, saying loudly 'Oh no you don't!' and calling upon super strength to fling Juggernaut across the street, throwing him into a water pump. The giant recovered instantly though, and seemed even more looming than before. He picked up the pump, and threw it back at them.
Instinctively, Rogue conjured up a shield with her mind to protect the three of them, hardly even thinking about the light feeling that had suddenly come into her head. She kept the shield up, until Juggernaut began to come over for another attack. And it was then that she began to feel a little bit faint.
The bug had shifted into a bird, and it was flying as fast as it could across town, all the while thinking to the fighting girl 'don't use your mind, use the necklace.' Yet she got now reply, and she doubled her pace of flight.
Pietro was running faster than he'd ever done before, anxious as hell to be fighting at Rogues side. He had no idea where it was he was going, and was moving far to fast to make out the surrounding scenery. As he turned up another empty street, he let out a sigh of frustration, and continued in his quest.
Rogue told the other two to scatter, and they obeyed as quickly as possible. Bobby was at the edge of the road, and Rogue yelled to him in his head, all the while feeling lighter and lighter. 'Run, Bobby run and get help. Whoever's nearest, Brotherhood or X-men, just go!' Bobby held his hands to his ears and ran as fast as he could, getting one last look of Rogue fighting to get to Rahne.
The bird that was flying through the air saw a scene of smoke and destruction, and knew that she had found what she was looking for. Pointing herself downwards, she swooped to the ground to save her daughter.
Rogue was getting a little worried. Something was wrong with her, every time she tried to use her mind to do something. But she could see, through her fogging vision, that Juggernaut was approaching Rahne. She saw him lift the girl up into the air as if she were lighter than a feather, and throw her down on the ground like a rejected toy.
Falling onto the ground, oblivious of all that was around her, including her mother running towards her, Rogue did the only thing she could think of to save Rahne. She focused all her power and energy into one ball, and as Juggernaut moved in again, she fired a psychic wave at him, magnified by Mystiques wild scream of protest.
The world went white, and then there was nothing.
DISCLAIMER: Characters and situation are property of Marvel and WB
AUTHORS NOTE: Hehehe, it's a cliffhanger! Don't worry, you shouldn't have to wait too long to find out what happened. Next chapter you shall see what has become of all the people who were in the street, and peoples reactions and explanations of what happened. As ever, thank you soooooooo much for reviewing!! Keep it up!!
The day at the beach was a landmark event for the young mutants, the first time ever that they'd all been able to get along with one another. Even the younger X-men had joined in the game, once they'd gotten over their fear of the brotherhood. Most people weren't really surprised by the change in attitude, what they were probably shocked by was how easy it was to get along with the other side of mutants if you forgot your prejudices. Evan was perhaps an exception to this, but he seemed happy enough to take out his frustration at Pietro on the volleyball court.
Rogue really couldn't remember being this happy. She had friends, and they were getting along, playing together just like normal teenagers. She had a family now, all be it a bizarre one. And she had Pietro. And Scott.
And there was her problem.
Try as Rogue could, she couldn't find the heart to tell Scott that Pietro was whom she wanted to be with. This made her question her feelings for Scott, and made her wander if Pietro was the one she should have the talk with. Yet when she thought about letting quicksilver go, she felt a pain in her chest the was so strong she had to take a few moments to get over it, and this just put her back where she had started. Rogue knew she would have to do something about it all, she already felt like a complete bitch for leading the two of them on for this long. True, she had never actually kissed Scott, though she had done nothing to push him away. Why not?
After coming back from the beach, Rogue bade the rest of the X-men goodnight and said that she had a headache and needed to sleep. In truth she collapsed onto her bed with her eyes wide open, staring up at the darkened ceiling of her room as if it held all the secrets of the universe. She couldn't decide, it was just too damn hard. Every time she resolved to do something, she felt some sort of emotion that took her right back to where she had started.
It was about half an hour later when Rogue did decide a course of action; she would talk to Lance about it. She reached for the phone and dialled the number that she knew so well, feeling a little guilty that she kept calling on Lance to sort out her problems. She would of course go to Kurt, but somehow she felt his advice might be a little less practical than was required.
The phone rang twice before Fred answered it. 'Hey, who's calling?' he asked.
'Hi Fred' Rogue replied, knowing exactly who it was just from the tone of voice. Fred's response was automatic. He put the phone down and began to yell for Pietro, but Rogue cut him off before the second syllable could escape his mouth.
'No Fred, actually I wanted to talk to Lance.' She said, almost imagining the confused look that had crossed her friends face.
In the Brotherhood house, Fred shrugged his shoulders and threw the phone to Lance, who had been listening from the entrance to the kitchen. Lance held the phone to his ear with one hand as he tried to open the boxes from the pizza takeaway with the other. He didn't even say hi, as he knew it was Rogue on the phone from what he'd heard before.
'What's up Rogue?'
Her voice was quiet, with a little hint of a plea in it. 'I need to talk to you, in person. I sort of have a problem I need your help with. And you can't tell Pietro about it.'
Lance couldn't stop himself agreeing to meet her. He had absolutely no idea how he had suddenly become so protective of Rogue, it really wasn't in his nature to behave in such a brotherly way.
That, he supposed as he said goodbye to the guys and started up the car, was before he met the X-men.
Rogue put the phone down with an expression of satisfaction on her face. As guilty as she felt for getting Lance's continued help with her problems, it felt good to know there was someone like that she could go to.
She took a final swig of water from her bedside table, failing to notice the slight difference in taste that was now present, and glanced back at her now empty bed, and then remembered something. Putting a hand to the necklace that was permanently worn round her neck, she split herself into two people, just as Multiple would accidentally do. Being fully in control of this power, she commanded her double to lie in the bed, and looked back at it with a devious smile as she slipped silently out of the mansion grounds.
If Rogue had looked a little more around the grounds she was escaping, she would realise that she was by no means the only person who was moving around that night. For on the other side of the fence, a silver blur was climbing the walls to get into the institute. In the garage of the mansion, two figures were preparing for a little trip. One got into the car, as the other glided silently back into the mansion to instigate the next part of his plan. And following him was another figure, whose shadows changed continuously to hide her true appearance.
Pietro swept into the X-men mansion in his usual silver blur. He did not, however, go to Rogue's bedroom as she usually did. Instead he ran round the edge of the building, until he saw the person he was looking for, standing near the window and looking out with an unreadable expression on their face.
Scott was shocked to see Pietro standing at his door when he opened it, as he was the root of the problem he had spent the last hour wandering about.
The silver haired boy looked at him with a neutral expression. 'Can I come in?'
Jean looked one last time at the map that was on the empty front seat of her car, before giving a satisfied nod and heading off down a road leading to a familiar building. The professor would have been proud of her. She let herself in the door by breaking the lock with her power, and headed apprehensively for the most secured area of the building, sending a message back to her mentor to say that their plan would soon be in motion.
The professor gave a little nod before looking round at his students, who were gathered around the dinner table, finishing off the dregs of Storms meal. Neither Scott nor Rogue was present, which made him even more pleased. He cleared his throat to secure their attention.
'I need a couple of you to run a little errand for me. There's a man on the other side of town who is a dear friend of mine. However, he is not a mutant and has no idea of how to get to the mansion. I need a couple of you to run over there and pick him up, being as Storm and Logan are a bit busy at the moment.'
From the greenhouse, a loud clap of thunder and the sound of rain could be heard, signifying just where Storm was. Nobody wanted to guess what Wolverine was up to at that moment.
Several of the new recruits stuck up their hands, eager to please their new professor, who smiled indulgently at them.
'Bobby, could you and Rahne go over and pick him up. Take the bikes, he'll have a car I'm sure, so you only have to ride the way there.'
Bobby's chest swelled with pride at being signalled out. He and Rahne grabbed their coats and headed towards the door. The professor called to them as they were leaving.
'Don't be out too late, it's going to get very dark soon.' He turned back to the other teenagers, the smile on his face wider than ever. The bug in the corner of the room followed him as he left, wondering what the hell he was up to.
'…So you see Lance. I don't know what to do; I have to let go of one of them. But Scott is so warm and supportive, and Pietro is, I don't know how to describe it. It feels as though, as though if I knew I'd never see him again, I'd never want to see anyone again ever, as though I would rather die than lose him. And yet I can't find it in myself to tell Scott that. Which means I must have feelings for him too…'
'Or that you don't want to hurt him because he is your friend.' Lance suggested softly, causing Rouge to give him a pained expression. Lance took her hand and poke gently.
'Look, I'm not saying go for Pietro because he's my best friend, I mean Scott has actually turned into an all right guy. But looking at the two of you together, there's just something there that you don't see everyday. Like you would sacrifice yourselves for the other in a heartbeat. And besides, I don't know about Scott, but Pietro is in love with you.'
Rogue said nothing, she just stared out at the grass. Finally she turned back to Lance, completely changing the subject.
'Do you and Kitty have that whole 'sacrifice thing'?' she asked, smiling as he turned away and looked down.
'I, well I guess so.' He said, and Rogue laughed as spots of red began to creep onto his face. Lance buried his head in his hands and groaned, and Rogue giggled even more, before patting him on the back.
'Say no more Lance, I understand. And I shan't tell Kitty, mainly because I don't want the mansion to fall down from the shrieks that would inevitably follow my telling her.'
At this Lance joined in her laughter, before looking at her seriously, concern in his eyes.
'Seriously though, are you all right now?' he asked cautiously.
Rogue looked at him, resolve now written in every part of her face. 'Yeah, thank you. I know what I have to do now. I've made a decision.'
There was a tense silence in Scott Summers room at that point. Pietro had just phrased the situation to Scott, quoting word for word the speech he had practised in his head the 2 minutes it had taken him to get to the mansion. They were both in love with Rogue, and she wanted them to be friends. What were they going to do about it?
Scott ran a hand over his face in a tired manner, as though he had asked the question himself a hundred times before. Both boys had seen just how happy Rogue had looked at the beach, how pleased she was that Brotherhood and X-men were getting along. And both boys wanted to see her happy. Perhaps there lay their solution.
'Look' Scott said slowly. 'There's only one thing that we can do, we have to let Rogue make a decision, and we have to respect it when she does. If we want her to be happy, that's the only thing we can do.'
The other boy nodded slightly in agreement, but Scott had caught the pained look that had crept into his eyes when he had mentioned Rogue 'deciding', and he knew what was going through Pietro's head. He was contemplating what would happen if Rogue chose not to be with him. And Scott could see that that scenario was tearing him apart. He bowed his head, and wondered what he would feel if Rogue rejected him. The idea that she would stay with Pietro just didn't make sense, he and Rogue were perfect together, and they got on so well. Yet he could tell that Pietro was in love with her. Scott was now more confused than he'd been before Pietro arrived.
Quicksilver looked at him and spoke again. 'What do we do? Do we keep being friendly towards one another? Not that we were that friendly before' he added.
Scott was unsure how to answer this question. He had never had a particular problem with Pietro Maximoff, other than him being a member of the Brotherhood. Yet he had no real desire to become all friendly with him either.
It was Pietro that answered his own question. 'I think, if it makes Rogue happy, we should do it.' he paused, 'whatever her decision.'
Scott didn't think he could find a better response than to nod, and the boys were again left in silence.
Jean ducked as another security guard walked past. She focused her power, and caused a door up the hallway to slam open, causing the man who was walking in her direction to stop and ran back the way he had come. She was entirely intent upon completing her mission.
Finally, about half an hour after entering the building, Jean found her way into the most secure room, and in the centre, surrounded by a huge glass tank, was Juggernaut. The Professor's half brother.
Jean walked forward, feeling more nervous than ever before. She had seen the damage that Juggernaut had caused the last time he was let loose. Though, she supposed as she gathered herself together, this time her and the professor were in control. She held in her hand a device that Xavier had made since placing Juggernaut back in captivity; it allowed them to control him and his movements once it was placed on his helmet, by a particularly strong blast of what the professor liked to call 'psychic radiation'. Jean really didn't care how it happened, as long as it worked.
She took a deep breath, and pressed the button that would release the gigantic mutant from his prison. The professor had told her that she would have only a few seconds to place the device on his helmet before he became fully aware of his surroundings and began to cause some damage. But Jean was ready; she would do what it takes to get rid of Rogue, and to bring Scott back.
The glass had fully lifted now; the light was giving the whole room an almost otherworldly glow. It was time. Jean raised the small device with her mind, and sent it flying towards Juggernaut, who was looking around the room, beginning to realise just where it was he was. The chip like object snapped onto the side of his metal helmet, and Juggernaut let out a cry of surprised agony as the effects of the device began to kick in. he sank to his knees and the floor shook, but then he stopped, as docile as he had ever been.
Jean smiled and walked right over to him, her previous fear completely forgotten. Juggernaut did nothing to harm her, and this caused a relieved smile to spread across the face of the red head. She put a hand to her forehead, and silently gave her weapon his instructions. She then slipped back into her car and left Juggernaut to do his work.
The rest of the X-men were currently engaged in the watching of the television, Evan especially, being that it was his night to watch what he wanted, and naturally he had chosen sports. The younger members of the team were a little scared to see him jump up and down and yell at the screen in a most disturbing manner. Nobody really noticed when Rogue popped out of nowhere and sat down to join them. Kitty motioned for her to join her, and the two of them sat giggling, as Evan got angrier and angrier.
Heads did turn however, as Scott and Pietro came down the stairs together. Most the X-men were shocked to see Pietro walking about in the mansion as if he was one of them, but to see Scott with him was absolutely shocking. Even Rogue, Kurt and Kitty looked a little surprised to see the two of them together and not wanting to rip out each others throats, particularly as they were rivals for Rogue's affections. The girl sprang up to meet them both, an anxious look in her eyes.
'Look, both of you. I really need to talk to you. I've been doing a lot of thinking..'
Rogue was cut off by Jean running into the room in a total state of panic. 'Turn on the news!' she cried.
Kurt ripped the remote control from Evan, who let out a cry of protest. He switched the channel to the news, and the teens all stared in horror at what they saw.
The picture showed Juggernaut moving wildly through the streets, trashing almost everything in view. Things were brought to an even higher state of panic in the house when Kitty read the street sign behind the chaos.
'Oh my god!' she shrieked. 'Like that's where Bobby and Rahne went!'
The X-men all began talking and shouting at once, Pietro joining in. rogue's face had looked stricken when she had heard Bobby's name.
This was the situation that Professor Xavier found his students' in. he held up his hand for silence, and they obeyed instantly, wanting for someone to tell them what to do. Xavier noted Pietro's presence, and put it down to him visiting Rogue.
'Before anyone explains, I have heard the radio myself. We need to assemble a team immediately to subdue Juggernaut and to retrieve out students.
Scott immediately stepped into his organisational mode, but he was stopped by Rogue's interrupting him.
'I'll go. I can stop him.' she spoke as though there would be no acceptable response to dissuade her from going. The Professor looked at her long and hard, before he nodded his consent. Rogue glanced at her friends before she left the house, and an empty silence followed her departure. This was broken only when Xavier motioned for Jean to follow him into his office to discuss what she had seen or heard. They shut the door with a soft sound, causing the built up tension in the room to shatter.
Kurt was beside himself. 'What was he thinking, letting her go?' she's my little sister, something might happen to her, there'll be nobody to help her, she..' he was cut off by Kitty putting a hand over his mouth. The rest of the room was shocked; nobody had ever seen Kurt this upset before.
Pietro too was what one could call worried. Though panicked would probably have been a better word. Rogue had gone to fight Juggernaut. Alone. Unarmed. Well not exactly unarmed, he reasoned. Rogue had proven in times past that she could look after herself perfectly well. But just staying at home waiting whilst she was out fighting alone? He felt completely helpless. But then, he reasoned again, he wasn't an X-men, and he never followed orders.
He looked round at the others, especially at Kurt. 'I'm going to help her. Don't worry Elf, I'll look after her.' He didn't let Kitty get her argument out before he had sped out the door, practically blowing the door of the mansion off of its hinges.
Despite Pietro's promise, Kurt didn't really look that consoled. Kitty sat down with him and hugged him, and Scott came over too, a darkness in his eyes that Kitty had never seen before. 'She'll be all right' he said, trying to convince everybody including himself. 'Remember what she did in the danger room? She could take out Juggernaut any day.'
The rest of the X-men nodded, and they sat in silence again, knowing that there was nothing left to do now but wait.
Professor Xavier closed the door behind him as Jean walked into his office. He was completely unaware of the fact that the bug that had followed him for sometime now had again slipped into his office, listening intently to what he was saying.
'You put the chip on him Jean?' he asked, even though he knew that all must have gone as planned. She nodded, and the professor let the triumph begin to sink in.
He looked at his best student, and was surprised to see that she was clearly still worried by something. 'Jean, what is the matter?'
She looked at him worriedly. 'Its just that, what if Rogue doesn't use her psychic powers to try and get rid of Juggernaut. All the poisoning, and the planning, it will all have gone to waste. We'll have accomplished nothing.' She hung her head.
The professor tried to reassure her. 'Jean, I am convinced that Rogue will use her mind power to try and save the others, and as long as she took that last cup of water she should fail. Remember, I was right about her offering to go after them wasn't I?'
Jean smiled slightly, and the professor leant back in his chair, waiting for news that their little problem had been eliminated, as the bug that had been listening slipped frantically under the door, determined to stop Rogue before it was too late.
On the other side of town, Rogue was racing towards her destination. She didn't even have to think about directions, she just needed to follow the path of destruction that Juggernaut had left. She finally found what she was looking for as she turned the street corner and saw Juggernaut at the other end of the road, looming over the two terrified X-men. As she watched, Bobby tried to erect a wall of ice, but with a flick of his finger, Juggernaut shattered it into a thousand pieces. Bobby looked utterly desperate, and Juggernaut began to raise his hand again.
With lightning speed, Rogue rushed forward and intercepted the giant, saying loudly 'Oh no you don't!' and calling upon super strength to fling Juggernaut across the street, throwing him into a water pump. The giant recovered instantly though, and seemed even more looming than before. He picked up the pump, and threw it back at them.
Instinctively, Rogue conjured up a shield with her mind to protect the three of them, hardly even thinking about the light feeling that had suddenly come into her head. She kept the shield up, until Juggernaut began to come over for another attack. And it was then that she began to feel a little bit faint.
The bug had shifted into a bird, and it was flying as fast as it could across town, all the while thinking to the fighting girl 'don't use your mind, use the necklace.' Yet she got now reply, and she doubled her pace of flight.
Pietro was running faster than he'd ever done before, anxious as hell to be fighting at Rogues side. He had no idea where it was he was going, and was moving far to fast to make out the surrounding scenery. As he turned up another empty street, he let out a sigh of frustration, and continued in his quest.
Rogue told the other two to scatter, and they obeyed as quickly as possible. Bobby was at the edge of the road, and Rogue yelled to him in his head, all the while feeling lighter and lighter. 'Run, Bobby run and get help. Whoever's nearest, Brotherhood or X-men, just go!' Bobby held his hands to his ears and ran as fast as he could, getting one last look of Rogue fighting to get to Rahne.
The bird that was flying through the air saw a scene of smoke and destruction, and knew that she had found what she was looking for. Pointing herself downwards, she swooped to the ground to save her daughter.
Rogue was getting a little worried. Something was wrong with her, every time she tried to use her mind to do something. But she could see, through her fogging vision, that Juggernaut was approaching Rahne. She saw him lift the girl up into the air as if she were lighter than a feather, and throw her down on the ground like a rejected toy.
Falling onto the ground, oblivious of all that was around her, including her mother running towards her, Rogue did the only thing she could think of to save Rahne. She focused all her power and energy into one ball, and as Juggernaut moved in again, she fired a psychic wave at him, magnified by Mystiques wild scream of protest.
The world went white, and then there was nothing.
DISCLAIMER: Characters and situation are property of Marvel and WB
AUTHORS NOTE: Hehehe, it's a cliffhanger! Don't worry, you shouldn't have to wait too long to find out what happened. Next chapter you shall see what has become of all the people who were in the street, and peoples reactions and explanations of what happened. As ever, thank you soooooooo much for reviewing!! Keep it up!!
