They were closing in on her, the urban ninja's; everyone else was oblivious as they mingled in their own little world. They were here for her and Warren, who was just barely hanging on to consciousness by this point. She removed the dart and began building up a psionic charge. She had recently developed this for when she needed to interrogate someone. She could knock out anyone who attacked her and then supercharged the synapses to revive them like a defibrillator. Too much however, like using it on someone even partially conscious, would be like having an extreme migraine.

"Rogue" she whispered roughly into her ear piece, "where the bloody hell are you. There are more guards outside. Get your arse down here before I kick it from beyond the grave."

Up in the apartment, Remy was busy equipping himself for battle. His staff, duster and plentiful packs of cards in each pocket and up his sleeves. Opening up the mini bar, he stole a glass bottle of water. All while he donned his red and navy Acolyte uniform. He saw Rogue removing a suitcase from the closet and, removing her glove, placed her finger on the scanner.

"Ya'll go on ahead, ah'll catch up." Gambit opened the window, assessing his chances of successfully grappling to the lower balcony as slim, and spared a final nod to Rogue as he leaped from the window. The case opened and she noticed a note seated on top.

Rogue,

Just want to say, I don't have any beef with you or the decisions you made. You had your reasons, just like I have my own. I should hope the designs meet your specifications and fits well. It will mind you, but you never know.

Sage

She pulled out the new uniform and admired the colour. "Perhaps this could be the team colours." And what do you know, it fit perfectly.

Ballroom, fifth floor

The band started up once again and many couples made their way to the floor to perform the evening waltz. Of course, Psylocke was never one to miss a waltz. Warren had now succumbed to the tranquilizer, giving ample opportunity to supercharge his synapses. Boosting his mind back to normality, she hoisted him away to the dance floor and placed his hand on her waist

"Just go with it luv, low profile and all." And she led him into a somewhat sloppy waltz as his legs still seemed to be asleep. They kept sliding along the floor and nearly tripped up two other couples. Getting tired of this, she adjusts his legs and took control with her telekinesis to keep him steady. Another pair of attackers closed in on them, and Betsy lashed out her elbow to push them into another couple. A man that concealed a dagger up his sleeve attempted to cut, so Warren swung them around and allowed his head to bash of the attackers nose. A woman attempted to cut in, so Betsy allowed herself to be dipped and plunged a psionic knife into her leg, causing her to go limp on one side.

Gradually more and more dancers began sporting burst lips and nearly broken legs, so more and more attendee's began moving away to avoid the volatile pair. They made their way to the entrance and Warren informed Betsy that his leg had resumed their usual control. However, a large, destructive explosion rocked the attendee's to their very core and a veil of dust descended over their eyes. They took off out of the ball room, leaving a few disgruntled, some seriously injured, guests behind.

Twenty minutes earlier, Outside

He didn't see them at first, they blended so well into the night. They may have been trained to never be seen before they strike, but Gambit had been trained to never be seen period. He dropped silently to the ground and disassembled the grappling hook apparatus for later use, but kept the speared hook firmly loaded. They seemed to be focused mainly on the ballrooms occupants and performing their task. Making his way closer, he noted that they seemed to be laying down explosives. 'A distraction, not powerful enough to cause casualties, but enough to disorientate those inside. The real prize was Worthington.' Realizing what must be done, he removed a couple cards from their sheath in his utility belt.

Sliding out his stolen bottle, he gave it a strong charge and rolled it along the ground, conatntly retaining eyesight all the way. He had found that by keeping concentrated on his charge, he could release it and detonate it from a safe distance. As it neared its targets, he only had to blink and-BLAM! A few were blown around the roof, while many more leaped into the shadows.

"So that's your play hein, fine then, take a card." He charged the card to its maximum and threw it through the air, revealing many ninjas who had into the dark. With a slight of hand, the Bo staff appeared in his hands and extended to its full length with the flick of a button. Spinning it with the usual flourish and skill, he beat back all who were attacking him. Those who sprung from the shadows were met with a face full of steel.

A loud crash was heard as dust was thrown up around a crater in the ground. Everyone stopped their attack to see who this new combatant was. From the dust emerged Rogue, clad in a red and navy uniform not too different to Shadowcats. The main torso and boots that came to about mid thigh were a dark red, as were her gloves. Her arms and what was seen of her legs was dark navy. Over her left breast was a black X insignia. She raised her left arm and pointed her fist at the group of gathered henchmen. Everyones eyes, bar Remy's, widened in shock and horror, as two blades erupted from between her knuckles about ten inches long. A grim smirk appeared on her face as she relayed her silent desire. "Who's first?"

Xavier's School for gifted youngsters

Even strolling through the corridors, suspicion and unease penetrated the X-Men Shadowcat and Colossus through the unwavering stares of their fellow students. No matter where they turned, they were always kept under a certain degree of scrutiny. Some were subtle, while others much more blatant. It seemed almost all the mutant population were overcome with some sense of unease. They finally made it to the second floor east wing where the boy's dormitory was located. Along the way, Kitty couldn't shake that ominous feeling of being tracked. But as of the departure of Logan almost three weeks ago, not only was the mansion louder during the day, but slyer in their pranking without a nose to sniff out the booby traps.

Piotr knocked on the door to Kurt's room, but they immediately found themselves inside, courtesy of his usual bamfs. His room seemed more dishevelled than usual, with suitcases lying open in the corner, clothes spilled around the floor, another case peeking from beneath his unmade bed, long and black, and his desk covered in a white sheet which hid a large mass of something's beneath it. While the two new occupants were looking around, Kurt had returned to his bar that he installed after receiving complaints about him destroying too many chandeliers. Now he could hang out in style, although now he seemed to be meditating over something. Before the silence became too awkward, Kurt spoke up.

"I heard you coming down the hall so I decided to catch up with you guys. How's it going?" he asked excitedly. No matter what it was, he was always enthusiastic to talk; what's on TV, pet goldfish just died (quite regularly apparently) or an upcoming dangerous mission to gather as many gut buster burger bombs, he was all ears.

"Actually comrade, ve wished to talk to you about somezhing." His deep baritone reverberated through the room, snapping Kurt into action and sending Kitty into gossip mode.

"So, have you, like, noticed how everyone is totally normal? Nobody's ever normal here! It's always explosions, crashes, missions and school projects. Now, everyone is just so...quiet. I never thought I would actually get it, but now it's like totally freaking me out." Kitty rambled on about her woe's, while Kurt seemed to be nodding, considering everything she said.

"ya, I have actually, now zhat you bring it up" his voice took a more solemn tone and he turned to his desk with a spider diagram covering a map was hung overhead. He leaped on top and sat perched while his tail moved like a clock pendulum. "I noticed it ever since I vas getting letters a week ago. When zhe professor and Jean came back from Vashington."

"Wait, who were the letters from?"

"Rogue, she has been contacting me for the past week. Just saying hi and telling me how she is. But I couldn't reply because she kept moving around."

"So wait, you've been getting letters from Rogue without telling us!"

"I didn't want everybody jumping in or getting their hopes up. She doesn't want to be found, but she doesn't like to be alone. She's with friends now, but she says there is trouble coming."

"How does she know?"

Kurt directed them to the table and pulled back to reveal its contents. Kitty gasped, while Piotr gaped in surprise, for on the desk sat five white and grey helmets that looked like Magneto's, except smaller and more form fitting. "Rogue, Beast and Forge were building these as way to reverse engineer, I think, Magneto's helmet. These aren't as powerful, but they can protect us a little bit. She his them and then told me where to find them. It must be pretty big!"

Kitty and Pete were still gaping at the inventions on the table and only faced Kurt when he had finished. 'It must be something HUGE!' Kitty thought. They all jumped in shock as a loud knock was heard at the door. Kurt and Pete quickly covered up the helmets, while Kitty ran and answered the door. Scott stood at the other side, his arms crossed, but his face was completely neutral.

"We got Danger room session in half an hour. Get suited up and report. That is all." He just turned and walked to the next room to repeat his message.

"Are you sure Scott is different...or has that pole been shoved a bit farther up his butt." Kitty drawled dryly.

Tokyo, Japan

He prowled through the darkness, hunched and tensed for battle. His blades were drawn, his camouflage in place. He was trained by the masters of ninjitsu and knew his opponents every move. So well, that when he pounced the two southerners never heard him coming.

"There's too many, we can' get them all!" she beat a ninja across the face, but another sprang from the shadows and blasted her in the back with a shotgun. Sending her sprawling, she caught one attacking Gambit with a right uppercut. He turned his attention to the ones laying out bombs. Unleashing a barrage of cards towards his targets, some were hit, though many of them had dodged and whipped out concealed Uzi's. Bullets rained down upon Him as he ducked for cover. Using his staff, he knocked a metal panel off of an AC unit. He charged this up and sneaked around his attackers. With a pre charged card detonating in his previous position, their attention was firmly focused on the former cover. He threw his charged panel with deadly accuracy and sliced through five machine pistols.

Two more leaped for Rogue and she was hit over the head with a very strong pair of num-chucks. Swinging a kick to their chests, the silent watcher in the dark moved to intercept. He stood between Rogue and her attackers, both of whom were braced for attack. His movements were fast, too fast to be seen by anyone, unless they were trained by him. His claws sprung out and he ripped the neck out of each. Her own claws were still in place, which explained his perplexed look as she retracted them. He pulled his mask back to reveal him in all his scruffy faced glory.

"Ya know...here in Japan, ya look like an Anime fan with yer blue hair."

'OK, not exactly what I expected to hear from someone like Rogue' Logan thought as he looked her over. 'Left arm is bulkier, completely new uniform and totally random phrases. Barely been gone one month an' she's already lost her mind.'

"Stripes, might I ask what are you doin' here?"

"You can after we're dead. Now quit yer yammerin' and start kicking their asses."

He needed very little encouragement after that. But he kept up the banter while he blocked and stabbed. "So...you and Gumbo huh?"

"Really, now, ya want to talk about this now" she replied tersely as a katana came close to nicking her neck.

"Well, I guess we can talk about it later. Is Angel safe?" He delivered a punch straight into the face of another, but a ninja slide from beneath and sliced his Achilles tendons. Grunting, he fell backwards, but popped his claws into the unsuspecting chest of the attacker.

"You been spyin' on us, or does news travel that fast here?" Her claws clashed with the twin sai trying to stab at her. They were fast, faster than she gave them credit for and underestimated their knowledge of pressure points. Her right arm was asleep and her left leg was dangling around as she swung it around like a num-chuck into their heads.

"Naw, just saw it in online a few hours ago. Kind of hard to miss a man like Warren Worthington the third coming to Japan. Kinda surprised to find you here. I did say a month ya know."

"Yeah ah know. Ah'm on security detail and could use yer back up. Some more would be good now if you don't mind." She spun around at high speed in mid air and let her dead weight limbs strike five ninja's at once. She saw a trail of light grow across the sky and enlarge to become a flame that neared their positon. When she could finally see it properly, she was able to determine it was a man. A man on fire!

"SUNSPOT! TORCH THIS PLACE!" His order was responded with a wave of fire that swept across the roof like snakes, each one striking its target and burning it to ash. The roof was finally cleared, save for those unconscious. They could finally stop.

Bayville Sewers, NY, USA

"Are you sure about this?" although it could not be denied that something was definitely up with the students of Xavier's, Kitty wasn't entirely convinced this new course of action would work. Armed with only their anti-telepathy helmets and their X-men uniform, they ventured deep into the underbelly of Bayville. They were still aching from the extremely difficult session they were put through. If that wasn't enough incentive to investigate, then nothing was.

"It's zhe only way Kitty, zhey may not see eye to eye with us an all zhings, but they aren't evil." Kurt responded. He wasn't too happy with returning to the sewers, as he always stank more than the time Kitty made stick bombs in chemistry for at least a week. Piotr made his way along the cement platforms in his normal form, but was tense the whole way through. He was prepared to shift to metal form at the slightest bit of trouble and, given the apparent history with the sewer dwellers, he was ready for anything.

Kurt paused and leapt to the overhanging pipes. His ears pricked at the soft sounds in the distance. While his eyesight and tearing were better than most, his sense of smell was, thankfully for this occasion, not as astute as Wolverines. But a presence was still felt as though it were nearing them. They were found. The Morlock's had found them.

They saw the wall melt away behind them and from the ruins came a hulking lizard the size of a bear. Along with it was a small band of deformed mutants surrounded them, each one possessing a glowing feature on their body to signify their powers on standby. As the trio held up their hands in surrender, the small group's leader stepped forward. His bony protrusions more prominent, their tips glowing with raw heat and the plates now creating a rather hulking effect. But the heat dimmed and the spikes retracted, as he walked forward to face the new intruders. Gradually, his scowl broke into a grin and he held his fist out. Seeing this act he had so become used to performing before his departure, he bumped and pulled back, followed by a side swipe high-five. Kurt's grin enlarged as he let Kitty pass him and give him a hug.

"Dude, you had us freaked out mein friend."

"We were expecting a bit more of a warm welcome ya know Ev."

"Sorry about that, but what with all the recent break-ins, you can't be too careful man." Evan led the x men towards the inner sanctum of their operations, making small talk along the way. As they arrived in, the members of the expanded Morlocks turned to their visitors. The trio partially blanched at the close scrutiny of the underground mutants. Evan decided to break the silence.

"So uh...guys, what's with the Bucket helmets?"

"Zhats vhat we're here for mein friend. You see, we need your help."

I wish to apologise for the lateness of my chapter, but hopefully I won't miss out on a few comments. Reading your responses really makes my day and it brings a ray of sunshine to my heart whenever I see that notification in my mail box.