xxbluewingsxx: This chapter took me a few hours to write and I think it turned out a lot better then I originally planned, so I hope you all like it as much I liked writing it! :)
Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men!
The Fight
"Charles always wanted to build bridges…"
Rogue would never be able to get over the amazement she felt every time Magneto used his powers. Every time she thought the man had outdone himself, he did something even grander. This time he had ripped up the Golden GateBridge and moved the entire structure to AlcatrazIsland, giving them easy access to the main facility.
Although Rogue had to admit that she did not agree with his aggressive nature and the way he chased everyone off the bridge before moving it, it was probably the safest thing for the humans. After all, he could have physically attacked them and killed them if he really felt like it.
Upon placing the bridge back down, the force of the drop caused many people to stumble and fall over, Rogue being one of them. John was still standing next to her though, probably used to Magneto pulling stunts like this on a daily basis, and within seconds he had Rogue off her knees and back on her feet.
Magneto turned around and finally noticed the small family cowering inside their van. In a desperate and ridiculous gesture (Rogue almost laughed aloud at the sheer irony) the mother locked her door, causing Magneto to scowl at her in return. "Homo sapiens," He muttered under his breath. The whole team moved forward, following Magneto as he talked towards the end of the bridge and closer to the island.
Rogue looked back at the family, who was so obviously terrified of being torn apart by the swarm of mutants passing by their van. Nobody paid any attention to Rogue as they passed by, just as blind to her as they were to the trapped family.
Rogue took a couple of steps back towards the car once everyone had gone by and nobody could see what she was doing. Now she could see why the family had not left the car and run from the mutants when they first invaded the bridge. Magneto had rammed two cars on either side, trapping the family.
Rogue ran around the back of the car and tried opening the trunk but it was locked. She peered through the window to see the family was just sitting there staring at her like she had two heads, though now that she thought about, that was the look most mutants received upon revealing their powers.
Rogue banged on the window, trying to yell at the father to unlock the door, but he just gave her a helpless look and shrugged. Either he didn't understand what she was saying or the locking mechanism was broken.
In her frustration, Rogue made a fist and slammed the window. To her shock the glass cracked under her gloved hand. Rogue stood, looking in shock at the window, until she finally pulled her glove off. To her amazement, her hand was metal, much like Colossus' power. There was a sharp piercing sound ringing in her ears, like an overly loud whistle. She vaguely remembered the sound from the day her powers had exploded right before she blacked out.
Rogue rammed her fist into the window again, completely shattering the glass. By now the ringing in her ears had turned to shrieking and she could hear the sound of restless voices, aware that it was once again the psyches in her head going ballistic once again. Rogue clasped her hands over her ears, even though she knew there was no way to prevent the sounds of shrieking in her brain. Rogue gasped with pain, as she fell to her knees and keeled over, burying her face in her knees, trying to muffle her own screams.
And then someone was grabbing her by the shoulders and hoisting her to her feet. She had her eyes squeezed shut tight, and she remained that way, as if by being blind, the voices weren't so loud. She was focusing so hard on trying to calm the psyches, the World could have been exploding all around her and she wouldn't even notice.
And then someone had grabbed her wrists and lowered them to her sides. "Rogue, look at me!"
She opened her eyes and she had a blink a few times to clear the blur, but finally she was able to see John. "What are you doing? What's going on?" He asked a slight hint of panic and concern in his voice.
"I was trying to help the family… and the psyches…" She gasped as the rumblings started up again, but John still had a hold of her wrists.
"Okay Rogue. I don't understand exactly what's going on, but you have to focus. Nothing's happening to you, and you're the one in control. I promise I won't let anything happen to you, but you've got to stay calm. Breathe in and out slowly. Okay? Try that."
The whole even breathing thing was a typical illness remedy, but Rogue decided to give it a try, seeing as she didn't really have a lot of other options. As she stood there, inhaling for five seconds through her nose, and then exhaling again for another five, she watched as John cleared the rest of the glass on the window. "Come on! You've got to get out of here!" He reached inside and pulled one of the children out and set him on his own feet before reaching in and lifting his brother out, and then his sister.
By now the psyches had started to quiet down and she watched as John set his hand out to help the mother crawl through the window, and then the father.
"Thank you!" The mother gasped, gathering her children around her. "Thank you both of you!"
"You've got to get out of here now!" Rogue said while John pushed the father away, in the opposite direction of the island. The family didn't need to be warned a second time as they grabbed their children and took off.
John put a hand on Rogue's shoulder. "Better?"
Rogue nodded. "Yes, thank you."
John grabbed her hand, her covered hand, and began pulling her towards the island, pushing his way through the crowd of mutants until they were standing in front with Magneto. Jean, Juggernaut, and Callisto stood on his other side.
Rogue looked out and gasped in shock. Standing in front of the building, their main target, was the thing she had dreaded seeing the most.
The X-Men had lined up in front of the building: Beast, Shadowcat, Iceman, Angel, Storm, Wolverine, Cyclops, Jubilee, and Colossus. Rogue had feared this moment all week, and now that it was here, she could feel her heart swell with panic at the thought of hurting her friends.
And then she saw Ms Marvel standing on the end of the line, wearing an X-Man uniform. And not just any uniform. Rogue saw the distinct white lines that had formerly belonged to her.
Not only had Carol turned everyone against her, slipped all of her teammates information to the enemy, tormented Rogue for months and finally drove her off the team, but now she had the nerve to wear what rightfully belonged to Rogue and what she had worked so hard to earn.
No. That was the last straw. "I'm going to kill that bitch!" Rogue pulled her other glove off and reached into her pocket, where she had securely placed the fingerless gloves that Wanda had given her. She slid the gloves on and fastened them on tightly so that they wouldn't slip off mid battle and stepped forward to head into the battle, but she was stopped when John grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
Magneto was looking at her, and flashed her one of his amused smiles. "Let me show you why the pawns always go first in chess." He raised a fist and the army behind them charged forward, down into the battle.
Soldiers she had not previously noticed started shooting down into the horde of mutants and upon closer inspection, Rogue could see that they were being shot with the cure darts.
The X-Men remained in their formation, watching the chaos before them, waiting to make their move.
And then Rogue saw Jubilee point towards her, and everyone followed where Jubilee was pointing, and Rogue felt ashamed. It was mostly looks of horror and shock, but Iceman looked pissed off. Logan didn't even react, he had already seen her with Magneto, but apparently he hadn't informed the rest of the team of his discovery. Colossus and Jubilee alone looked relieved to see her, genuinely happy to see that she was alright. And Rogue was happy to see the bubbly Asian had recovered from her fever and was well again.
And then there was Ms Marvel, who stood off to the side, looking just as smug as ever. Rogue glared at the blonde over the battle field and watched as Carol lifted her head and glared right back at her.
John turned to look where Rogue was looking and he squeezed her arm. "Rogue, you promised!" But Rogue barely heard him. Her heart was pounding in her chest so loud that she was convinced it was going to pop right out of her chest.
And then Magneto was tossing cars in the air and John was unable to contain the temptation and he shot fireballs, exploding the cars in mid air and chasing the remaining soldiers away from their stations.
Rogue turned sharply to John, but he glanced briefly her way, then back again. But the look said everything. Don't worry; I'm not going to hurt anyone!
And then one of the cars froze over and Magneto nodded to John, giving him permission to square off with his old friend. As he walked by Rogue, she grabbed his arm. "John, no, don't do it!" She whispered so nobody else would hear.
John looked back at her and patted her knuckles, taking care to avoid the exposed flesh on her fingers. "I won't kill him, but I will rough him up a bit. Plus I've got a bone to pick with the Ice Dick."
Rogue released her hold on John and let him go, but the pounding in her chest increased, but she couldn't be sure if it was fear for her comrades, or for John… probably for both, but after everything Bobby had done to her, she wouldn't mind if John gave him a couple of bruises on that pretty boy face of his.
As if John's descent into battle was some sort of sign, what remained of Magneto's army, including Callisto, Juggernaut, Arclight, Psylocke and Kid Omega.
The only ones left behind was herself, Magneto, and Jean. Rogue's eyes darted through the battling crowd, looking for John. It wasn't very hard to spot him, when he kept shooting spurts of fire at Bobby.
Rogue soon lost sight of the battle as a fog rolled in, hiding everyone and everything from view. Rogue suspected it was Storm's doing. She looked at Magneto, unsure of what to do, but the man stalked into the fog without saying a word.
And Rogue was left alone with Jean. Rogue looked over at the red head, who was watching the entire scene unfold before them, but she had not reacted to a single thing, not even the sight of her old team mates and Cyclops. Nothing seemed to matter to this telepath anymore.
Driven by curiosity, Rogue shuffled sideways until she was standing right beside Jean. She stretched out her hand to Jean's.
"Don't."
Rogue froze and looked up to see that Jean had turned her head to look at her. "I can read your thoughts. I know what you're thinking. Just don't."
Rogue blinked once. "I'm sorry, but I have to know." Rogue whispered and grabbed Jean's hand with her bare fingers. She didn't have to hold on for very long to get the information she needed.
Dark thoughts instantly flooded the forefront of Rogue's mind. Everything was twisted and black, and Rogue broke the contact almost immediately, cutting off the thoughts. There were no memories. It was just pure evil, and it was some other dark force. It was what Rogue had suspected all along. Some other evil entity had taken over Jean's body and was simply using it as a human host. "You're not Jean!" Rogue gasped, looking up at 'Jean' with wide, horrified eyes.
'Jean' gave her a sideways smile and raised a hand, lifting Rogue off the ground. "You're right, I'm not." And then she shoved Rogue away.
Rogue flew through the air and finally hit the ground, coming to a rolling stop in the middle of the battlefield. Rogue clambered to her feet, and looked around. Not a single X-Man or Brotherhood member had paid attention to her at all; they were too busy fighting each other.
Rogue spun around, trying to find John. She had a bad feeling that something awful was about to happen and they needed to get away before it happened.
Despite the uneasiness she had received from making skin to skin contact with 'Jean' - Phoenix was its name – she had to thank her for what happened next. She heard the snarky voice of Ms Marvel as though the other woman were standing right next to her.
I'm coming for you, you stupid bitch!
At the last second, Rogue ducked down, just as the blonde flew right over Rogue, missing her by mere millimeters.
Rogue stood up and Ms Marvel stood just a couple of feet away from her. "I've been waiting for this day for a long time." The blonde spat.
Rogue smirked back. She knew she had promised she wouldn't do anything foolish and try and take on Carol, but what was she supposed to do when the woman came at her full throttle? "So have I."
Carol smirked. "You don't stand a chance against me, leech."
"We'll see about that… slut."
Carol screeched and charged at Rogue. Rogue couldn't help herself. Borrowing Jean – Phoenix-'s powers, she lifted Carol into the air and forced the other woman to do a somersault over her head, and slammed on the ground on her back on the other side of Rogue.
Carol jumped to her feet with a furious screech. "I'm going to kill you, you fucking vampire!"
Rogue laughed out loud. "You made my life absolutely miserable for months. I'm done taking shit from you."
Carol charged at Rogue again, and again using her newly borrowed telekinesis, she pushed Carol away, slamming her into the side of the building. The stone cracked under the force of the blow. Rogue ran towards Ms Marvel, and without even realizing it, she removed the metal from the sides of the building and wrapped them around Carol, binding her up tight like a burrito.
Ms Marvel wasn't even fazed as she broke free within seconds and flew back at Rogue, arm outstretched, hand balled into a fist, coming towards Rogue. Rogue squeezed her eyes shut and heard a loud 'twang' sound and felt a tickle on her cheek. She opened her eyes to see Carol's fist was planted on Rogue's face, but she had failed to injury Rogue, because she had covered her skin in a layer of metal.
Rogue turned and punched Carol back, but the woman did not even flinch. Of course, she was the ultimate fighting machine. The two women hopped away from each other and sized each other up.
"Well, well, I must admit, you're putting up much more of a fight then I gave you credit for." Carol shot Rogue that coy smile as she spoke. "Do you remember that day in the Danger Room? I could have killed you then, and avoided this battle. I wish I had, you're going to be a bit more challenging to take down."
Rogue had already thought back to that battle. It's true that Carol could have decimated her within seconds but the only reason she hadn't… was because of Rogue's gift. And then Rogue finally understood. The two of them could exchange punches and kicks all day and the battle would never end. The only chance she had of overpowering Carol and beating her in a fight would be to drain her.
"God I've always hated you! You think you're so fucking special don't you?!" Carol rambled, oblivious as Rogue pulled the fingerless gloves off her hand. Carol had made contact when her skin was covered in metal and did not work. She was going to have to go completely bare skinned for this one. "I'm going to put an end to you once and for all leech!"
Rogue forced herself to stand her ground as Ms Marvel jumped into the air and flew at Rogue, arm raised to deliver a punch. When Ms Marvel was close enough Rogue her bare left hand, ready to catch the blow. Too late, Ms Marvel realized what Rogue was doing.
Rogue caught the punch in her hand. Carol had put all her strength behind the blow, and Rogue cried out in pain as the power rippled down her arm and she heard the cracking of bones in her arm. Rogue skidded backwards through the gravel as the weight behind Carol's strength pushed her back.
Rogue forced her broken hand to clench around Carol's bare fist, drawing the energy from the blonde and using that strength to maintain her grip on Carol's hand.
Pain shot up and down Rogue's left arm but she knew the bones would heal with Wolverine's psyche still running around her brain.
And Rogue saw everything that Carol had ever seen and ever thought.
She saw Bobby as a cute little boy toy to be manipulated. The fact that he dated Rogue just made drawing him in all the more enjoyable. She saw Cyclops as a high-maintenance leader that wasn't worth her time. Logan was the one she needed to look out for, because he would listen to skunk haired girl, no matter how obscure she sounded.
The skunk girl… yes, that was Rogue. That was her primary target. The one Magneto had warned her about. She had an extraordinary gift, and he wanted it on his side. But she didn't see what was so special about this little slut. She looked weak, and that Southern accent made her sound like a total dumbass. There was nothing great about this woman, and she was going to prove it. Sure, she would steer her towards Magneto, that was her job, but he never said she couldn't have a little fun while doing it.
Carol screamed and tried to pull away but Rogue used her right hand to grab Carol's arm, keeping the contact and the memories and power flowing into her.
Carol was told that Rogue could steal powers upon contact… like a leech or a vampire. That was hysterical. Not only did she have the appearance of an ugly skunk, but her powers were as pitiful as a leech. Still, she needed to be careful. The slightest touch could completely botch the mission and she couldn't fail. She wouldn't fail.
How could she lose a fight to a little thief anyways? She didn't have any power of her own. All she did was steal everyone else's powers. She was completely useless. And useless people didn't deserve to breathe the air that Carol Danvers breathed. She was going to make this slut's life a living Hell. Maybe the girl would take the hint and kill herself off and make everyone happier. They were better off without this dangerous leech lurking around every corner.
Carol's strength was fading and surging into Rogue. Rogue could feel all the hatred Carol had ever felt towards her, and she used her right hand to grab Carol by the neck. And then she grabbed her neck with her left hand, maintaining the contact and keeping the power flowing into her.
Carol sank to her knees, her tongue poking out of her mouth as she gasped for air while Rogue drained and strangled the blonde at the same time. Rogue stood over Carol and forced the rapidly weakening woman onto her back and Rogue climbed on top, never once breaking the contact.
She hated Rogue. Why did all these X-Men like her so much anyways? Even after everyone saw her for the moron that she is, they still kept talking about her, like they missed her or something. But why? She's weak. She's a moron. She's a thief! What did anyone see in her? Carol was twice as smart as she was. Ten times hotter then her! And a million times stronger. And it wasn't just the X-Men. Magneto wouldn't stop raving about Rogue. He barely even thanked Carol for infiltrating the enemy ranks and completing her mission. And even that stupid Pyro wouldn't stop mooning over her. What was so special about this Southern skank?
Rogue was not even aware of Carol choking under her. She did not notice as Carol's icy blue eyes bulged from their sockets, and her constant hostile stare flashed to terror as her face turned blue.
Rogue did not feel Carol's body go limp under her as she sapped the last of her consciousness and her energy from the blonde's body.
Rogue is nobody and I'm going to prove it by killing the little bitch in front of everybody.
Rogue's grip tightened harder and harder around Carol's neck. Her head was spinning and she could hear the voices in her head screaming over and over again, blocking out the noise of everything else.
And then someone stepped forward and she vaguely heard someone moan her name. "Oh Rogue! Oh God, no!"
And there was a pair of carefully covered hands prying her deadlocked fingers from the blonde's lifeless throat. After peeling back each finger individually, and the coaxing of a voice she couldn't even distinguish, she finally released her grip on the blonde.
Who is this blonde? And who am I?
She looked up in the brown eyes of a blonde haired boy, Pyro was it? He looked horrified. But why did he look so scared of her? Who was she?
"Rogue what have you done?"
Rogue! That bitch! "I'll kill her in front of everybody! That fucking bitch! I'm going to kill her!"
Pyro didn't say another word, but his face still reflected concern as he grabbed her upper arm and tried pulling her to her feet. "Come on, we have to go." He pleaded, tugging at her, but she would not budge.
"I'm not going anywhere with you! Not until I can that little slut!" She screamed over and over, sounding more and more hysterical with every passing second.
A group of young adults – Gambit, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and Boom Boom – ran over to the pair.
"Come on! We have to get out of here. The whole place is going to Hell." Scarlet Witch panted.
"I already told you I'm not leaving until I kill Rogue. This ends here and now!" She screamed, trying to hear herself over the sound of the voices screaming in her head.
All five of the youngsters looked at her blank expressions.
"What's wrong with the cherie?" Gambit broke the silence first.
Pyro's grip on her upper arm tightened. "Look down." Pyro whispered.
She looked down and was surprised to see what she was sitting on…. Or rather who she was sitting on. "No! That's impossible! I can't be in two places at once!" The screaming in her ears started up again and she shrieked as she covered her ears. "Pyro… John…" She gasped, trying to make sense of the noise in her head. She wasn't Carol. She was Rogue? Yes! No! Yes… What?
"John, help me, I'm so confused!" She was screaming at him as she fell forward. She face was wet, but she couldn't help the tears that kept streaming from her eyes. "John… Help me… Please…" It was the last thing she managed to say before falling forward and finally blacking out.
xxbluewingsxx: please please review and let me know what you think! We are reaching the end of my story and probably only a couple of chapters left, so let's get those reviews rolling to help encourage me ;)