Xavier Institute, May 15th 1:01 am
Rogue came to with a pounding headache, and no memory of anything that could help Kitty. '-Damn it,' She thought as she sat up. Her head felt like a cinderblock that weighed a thousand pounds. Her plan had failed, Kitty was running out of time. Logan was leaned against the wall of her room, his arms crossed. "Easy," He was demanding more than he was asking. He approached her bed. "Went a little too hard?" She rubbed her head with a sigh.
"Yeah, all for nothin' too." When she looked at Logan, she noticed it seemed he wasn't listening. His stare and mind were somewhere else. She frowned, he wasn't usually like this. He was always focused, eye on the prize. She tore the covers off of her and eased out of the bed. "What's eatin' you?" But then, she realized that he somehow was blaming himself for Kitty's condition. 'It's my fault, Logan. Not yours.'
"We need to talk." He was holding back a dam of emotion, she could sense it. His abilities clued her in to his strange emotions. 'What is it I smell? Pain?' Rogue faced him seriously, her forehead knit. He wouldn't meet her eyes. Logan had never done anything he couldn't look her in the eyes for. She was so confused. 'Whats the matter?'
"Okay..." She said unsurely. She chased his stare.
"Rogue," He began, his stare lowered. "You're... It's..." He met her eyes and he was crying. Her brain felt too tired to contemplate what was making him act like this. She moved closer and waited for him to explain. He inhaled sharply. "Something's wrong. With you." She blinked.
"With me?" She repeated. He dropped his stare.
"It's your mutation, Rogue. It's killing you." He met her eyes again and found he couldn't read the expression in them. "You're running out of room for memories. If you continue usin' your power, you'll die. The damage... The damage could already be done." Silence. He crossed the room towards her and wished he had something, anything better to say. "Rogue, I'm sorry-"
"It's okay," She said, wiping at her face like she'd been punched in the gut. "It's okay, I'm gonna be okay." She assured him even though she was shaking. His face twisted into anguish.
"You wanna talk about it-" But, she shook her head no.
"We need-" Rogue screamed out as Stryfe entered her mind again. 'The only way to save any of them is to come, and submit yourself. Face me! Give me what I want, and I'll spare your little earth.' Rogue grit her teeth as she responded back.
'And what do you want from me?' She shivered when he chuckled.
'To be my angel of death, come help me lay waste to the rest of the timelines. Or, fight for your right to exist. Beat me. If you want to save the girl and your teammate, you don't have any choice. Scott and Cable are here waiting for you. Don't let them down.' She shook her head as Logan peered worriedly at her. Both Scott and Cable struggled helplessly behind him. "The only way to save them is if Ah go to Egypt, Logan. Where Ah helped raise Apocalypse." He shook his head.
"No wa-"
"Then they die." She choked out, turning away from him. He looked back at Kitty, laying with Kurt and Piotr beside her. Kurt was praying quietly and Piotr was leaning his forehead on her tiny, clammy hand. She looked so frail and small. So weak. "You don't have to. Your school needs you." She shook her head, her face breaking. "Ah'm not gonna last much longer, anyways. My powers..." He shut his eyes tight and brought the girl to him in an embrace. He leaned her head on his chest as she cried. "Let me do this." He inhaled sharply.
"I'm not letting you do this alone." He insisted firmly. 'Neither one of us us coming back from this.' He realized. They pulled apart and he stared at her.
"Ah don't want to tell anybody... Ah just," Logan nodded, inspecting her carefully. "It'll just make it harder." She stared in his eyes. 'I have to do this. I won't let them die because of me.'
"Are you sure, Rogue?" She nodded.
"They'll just get hurt trying to interfere." She looked at Kitty, a tear sliding down her face. 'Ah hope you'll understand, Kitty. Ah won't be here to tell you,' Her face became determined. 'But, it was worth it.' Logan nodded solemnly. She grabbed on to him and they teleported together to the Avengers compound. Natasha and Clint jumped as they appeared, peering at them curiously. They both wiped quickly at their faces.
Rogue rifled in her uniform and pulled out a small syringe with a grimace. Natasha took it hurriedly.
"This was one cure Hank made, it might help..." Logan sighed.
"Kitty isn't responding to it." He informed them. Still, Clint walked it over to Bruce and Tony, who were standing over Steve. He was laying still, ghostly white. None of them had ever seen him like this. It was hard to take. He was their leader, they all looked to him for guidance. He was a symbol for hope in America, it was jarring to all of them.
"No change," Bruce said, a frown on his face. "He was fine... Then, he just... Went down." He shook his head, blinking back tears. "How..." Thor stood angrily, his hammer crackling with electricity.
"I'll tell you how," He boomed, his eyes burning through Bruce. "Stryfe. Stryfe has done it to make us lodge a strike!" He raised his mystical weapon high. "I say we give him what he wants." He was tired of waiting. The things Thor cared about were dropping around him, he wouldn't accept it any longer without a fight.
"That's suicide, Thor." Tony insisted, staring down worriedly at his teammate. He looked so weak. It was wrong. Steve Rogers was anything but weak. He was the strongest one of them. He always had the ability to keep hope when nobody else could, and they needed that. Rogue clutched her fists.
"I said that I would help them, help them both." She said firmly. She looked hard at the Avengers.
"No," Tony began, walking in front of her. "No, Rogue. He's doing this so you will come and he can take you out!" He insisted, his eyes wide. "We are just confetti, he knows you have a shot at defeating him."
"You have the power to beat him, he knows that." Natasha told her. "He's scared of that. He's doing everything he can to mess up your head," She stared into her pale, green eyes. "Don't let him." Rogue dropped her stare.
"Letting either of them die is not an option." She met her gaze sadly. "You know that." Natasha bit her lip, the Avengers would fall apart without Steve. Then Stryfe would have their world.
Bucky pulled himself silently from Steve's bed side. "Steve wouldn't want you to fly off to your death, you know that." He steeled his face. "Let us stand with you." Bruce nodded, turning from Steve.
"We all want to save Cap." Rogue frowned. "He means a lot to us." Gently they were all enveloped in red hex energy. Not hurting them, but keeping them from being able to move.
"Hey," Clint began, wrenching furiously.
"I'm sorry..." Rogue breathed. "I'm gonna save Steve, but nobody else can get hurt."
"Kid, don't do this." Tony yelled as she and Logan walked away. "He would want us to do this together! Don't leave! Wait" He cried.
"Rogue!" Natasha shouted, but they disappeared in a puff of sulfur. 'Shit.'
Xavier Institute, May 15th 8:43 am
Emma probed the campus for the third time with her mind. The entire institute was united under one roof while Kitty was ill and Scott was missing. Everyone wanted to come together and had secretly missed the other half of their school, anyways. She knew once she saw Laura's jumpy behavior, Logan and Rogue had left. Even she had been left in the dark. She knew nothing less than trying to save Kitty would tear him from her side.
When she checked the hangar, the X-Jet was there, but the Blackbird was gone. She began to reach out telepathically. 'Peter, I know you want to be by Kitty's side. But it appears Logan and Rogue have made a move against Stryfe, and we need to be there.' He nodded, he hadn't left Kitty's side all night. It was impossible to let the ill girl out of his sight. But, he knew he had to.
'I want to be there for her.' She nodded proudly.
'X-Teams, Ororo. Gambit. Lorna. We need to track where Logan and Rogue went.'
'They are gone?' Ororo countered back skeptically. Emma nodded.
'You didn't expect either of them to sit around, did you? This was all about Stryfe driving Rogue out.' The weather witch nodded in agreement, her worry increasing. 'Gods, keep them safe.' She prayed, her chest heavy.
They met, suited out in the hangar. Jubilee and Amara hooked their arms in Piotr's, knowing how hard he was taking Kitty being sick. He thanked them mentally for their support, hoping their efforts saved Kitty. 'Katya,' He thought in despair. 'Please, please hang on for me.' He looked out the window as the X-Jet took to the air. His stomach was in knots, he couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this nervous.
Kurt placed a hand on Piotr's shoulder. "Let's pray for them, friend." He offered, his head already bowed. If his skin wasn't iron he would've blushed, thankful for Kurt's kindness. Nobody said another word the whole plane ride.
'Ororo,' Emma asked through her mind, feeling weird without Scott there. 'Where is the tracker leading us?' Ororo frowned.
'It looks like to Egypt.'
Cairo Egypt Pyramids, May 15th 5:36 pm
Logan and Rogue stared out at the pyramids, heat waves lining their vision. It was deja vu. Last time their team had been there, Apocalypse was raised. His hair stood up on the back of his neck. Apocalypse was but a distant memory, now. Stryfe was the bane of their existence. He'd had the Infinity Gauntlet for some time, and still he taunted them. He was leagues more sadistic than Apocalypse had ever been, and that said a lot.
Rogue closed her eyes and focused, trying to tap into where Sinister had dragged her. Like a light, the memories guided her the right way. She ignored the shooting pain in her head for Logan's sake. "Here," She pointed, pointing him to smaller cluster of of pyramids. He followed after her as she relived those terrible moments, resurrecting Apocalypse again. They stopped when they made their way to a particularly crumbled and degraded structure. At the top, holding his helmet, was Stryfe. He was grinning widely.
His silver helmet sent blinding strobes of light into the desert at the sun beat down. "I could've sworn I told you to come alone?" He declared. Rogue shrugged, her body tensing.
"Package deal." Logan informed him, sharpening his claws. Stryfe sneered.
"Well, certainly you must be punished." He held his Infinity Gauntlet high, crushing a fist as portals lit up the sky. Giant, shining discs to different dimensions opened every where. Logan and Rogue watched in horror as demons and monsters like the ones Illyana released, began raining down on them. Winged beasts and demons with horns, all pouring out of the sky. "Surrender. Or get through this to get to me." He laughed, his gauntlet glowing on his hand. The inter-dimensional beings bellowed and yelled, filling the desert with chaos. "Try, if you dare."
Rogue watched as the demons filled the desert. Fear gripped her heart, and she contemplated for the first time in a long time if she could deal with this. Her partner sensed her doubt. Logan grabbed her wrist tightly, his face fixated on Stryfe. 'This is it...' He thought. "I'll never get to him..." Rogue sobbed, but he tugged her, his claws out. She was scared, terrified. He could smell it. So was he, to be honest. But it wouldn't stop them.
"Jean told me about Hope." He looked at her, his eyes hopeful. "How important she is. I'll get you there, Rogue. I promise!" He screamed, his claws slicing though the monsters. Rogue shot hers out and followed suit, slicing rabidly through the siege. Blood rained down on them both like a dark shower. Together, they roared and fought savagely in unison. She grabbed onto him and flew, both of them slicing through the mass of of the demon horde. But a quarter up the pyramid they start to get overwhelmed. There were too many portals, too many inter-dimensional beings.
The white scarf around Rogue's neck was stained with blood as she sliced, her eyes black. She thought of Logan's jumbled memories and gave in to his animalistic tendencies, needing them to be able take the beasts on. One jabbed a tusk into her shoulder, another a beak into Logan's side. She screamed out, slicing in retaliation. He snarled in pain before gutting the demon and tossing it down the pyramid. When Rogue smells Logan's blood she begins to panic, turing to him in fear. She can heal a little over time, but he cannot. Not anymore. She turns to him but he forges onward.
"Keep going," He barked, masking how hurt he was. 'I'm shredded...' He thought in agony, forcing his feet to move. 'Keep moving.' The mission wasn't over. 'Get her to him, no matter what. She's ready...'
Clouds cover the sky and thunder claps. 'I need to get them off of us,' Rogue thought desperately, the fatigue beginning to wear on her. 'They're just swarming us two.' Lightning struck and sent several of the aliens scrambling down the sides of the erection. Rogue grunted and did it again, slashing wildly with her claws. It helped, but they were still crawling up the steps. The ground shook, causing some of the demons to topple off the pyramid.
Her eyes going red, Wanda's hex energy hurled dozens careening into the sand. She pushed again telekinetically, and cleared a path for her and Logan. He slashed wildly around them as she flew, the belt of her uniform hanging off in tatters. He howled in agony when the claws of blue skinned ogre tears the flesh on his arm. Rogue screams out, her skin turning to iron so she can help.
"Keep going," He instructed through clenched teeth. She didn't realize how many wounds he had collected. All she could smell was his blood as she looked around. It was disorienting. Infuriating.
"LOGAN,"
"I'm fine," He snarled. "Focus on-" He shoved her out of the way and took a lance to the chest to her screams. 'They're killing him!' She thought helplessly. This was a mistake. She was on borrowed time, but he didn't have to die. 'I should've left him, too!' Her face twisted into anguish as she plunged her claws into the beast, shrieking.
"NO," He grabbed the weapon and tugged, his stare locked hatefully on the mutant that had attacked him. With a scream, his claws took their head off. The body dropped motionless beneath, forgotten. Logan shoved the weapon from his chest and coughed up a gout of blood, making Rogue scream.
"Stop, PLEASE!" She begged through tears.
"We're almost there," He pushed, pointing ahead of them. He screamed rabidly, giving in to his wildest, basest, instincts. 'We're almost there,' He thought, his body beginning to go weak with blood loss. 'Get her to the top...' He growled, slicing a descending, winged monster before it attacked Rogue. He strained to see through the raining blood and gore. She pulled him along tearfully, using her telekinesis to shield them the best she could.
When they reached the top, suddenly the monsters vanished. She looked around, numb as the empty desert surrounded her. As real as they were, as much as they had hurt both Rogue and Logan, now they were gone. She looked out into the sweltering sand in confusion. 'How... Was this all in our minds? To fuck with us?' She looked at herself. Her white scarf was shredded and bloody.
Her uniform was torn all over and smeared with blood, revealing cut skin underneath. She gasped as she looked at Logan, he was drenched in his blood, covering his gut with a hand seeped in blood. 'No... This was real...' Stryfe grinned widely down at them.
"Like my trick? Isn't it handy, having a stone that can bend reality to your will? That's what the Reality Stone does..." He examined his gauntlet smugly. "I can create anything I want, like this!" His arm transformed into a long sword, and quickly it pierced Logan's chest. Time stopped. Rogue's eyes went wide as she watched, the X-Men and the Avengers arriving too late to help. They spilled right into the sand as Logan was dying. 'No...' Rogue thought, her tortured mind finally breaking.
Logan glared savagely at Stryfe, lifting his claws and bringing them to his armor despite the pain. Roaring, he sliced at him. He tried to pierce him with all his might, but his claws shattered against the impenetrable metal. Rogue's scream echoed over the sands, making the teams stand still. They all knew something awful had just happened. Stryfe wrenched his arm from Logan's chest and he stumbled back into Rogue's arms. "LOGAN," She shouted. "LOGAN, NO!"
She covered his chest wound with a shaking hand, straining to listen as he tried to talk. "I'm hurt," He said softly, straining his eyes to look at her. "Marie," He whispered, his breaths getting tight. 'D-Damn it. I blew it.' Stryfe stood towering over them.
"Stop trying to talk!" She hissed, tears and snot dripping down her face. "Ah'll get you to Hank, Ah swear! Jus' hang on, Logan. Please." He tried to smile at her, reaching out for her face. "Don't leave."
"Shh, stop crying." He ordered, his face firm. "Told you, I would never leave you if you still needed me." He squeezed her tight, the man who'd lived forever knew he was about to die. He looked at her seriously, hoping she knew he meant every word. "You'll be okay, Rogue. Wouldn't say that if you wouldn't be." She cradled his head, her body shaking with adrenaline. So much of his blood was on her it was a wonder he was still breathing at all. 'He can't go..' She thought, her stomach twisting. 'Unless he really knows I'm gonna okay.' She took in a shuddering breath, shaking her head.
"It's okay," She lied.. "I know. I know it'll be okay, Logan. Thank you." He nodded at her and smiled, the life fleeting from his eyes right after. Even Stryfe didn't speak. As if someone else had given Logan permission to die, Rogue shook him. Her face broke as she patted his face, begging for any sign of life or movement. "No..." She sobbed. "Don't..." Stryfe snickered in front of her. She dropped her head on his chest and screamed until her voice blew out.
Laura began shrieking and crying, wrenching furiously in Piotr's arms. She could smell what had happened, not even Logan could survive that blood loss.
They could tell from the bottom of the pyramid what had happened. Even the Avengers hung their heads, listening to their teammate cry out to god. Behind Stryfe, Scott and Cable struggled wildly to get free and help.
"You coward, Stryfe!" Cable chastised. "Take it out on me!" He ordered angrily, his arm throbbing in pain. 'Hope needed him, too...'
"Let me go, let me out, Stryfe. I'll take you out in one shot," He promised, staring at the spot where Logan lay still. 'No... He can't be...' With an unsteady hand, Rogue reached out and closed the gruff man's eyes, her lip curling. She had felt every manner of emotion before, but she had never felt this. A darkness was settling inside of her. Sinister, Apocalypse, and now Stryfe had taken so much from them. From her. Stryfe stood above them both.
"Now, you don't want to fight anymore? Do you?" Tony's heart dropped, realizing that Stryfe was trying to break their best defense. Before he thought better of it, he shot to the stop of the pyramid beside Rogue. 'I've got to keep her fighting! No matter what...' She wasn't even listening to Stryfe, she was staring at Logan in disbelief, tracing her fingers over his face. She'd never had to do a single thing without him since she met him.
Tony wrenched Rogue up. "Go," He insisted, frowning at her. "If you just go with him, he'll leave this timeline alone. Don't you understand?" She looked at him, her face blank. Like she was thinking 'Why?'. He looked down at Logan and hoped Rogue would forgive him in the future. "What is there you really have to stay here for, now? Go." He told her, blinking back tears. She wrenched her arm free and fired an optic blast that sent him careening down the side of the pyramid.
Thor caught him, staring up in disbelief. "My friend, you are a fool to mess with that mutant's grief." Thor told him, ashamed. Tony shook his head.
"That almost broke her," He told him, looking up worriedly. "Hopefully, I just inspired her to keep fighting."
Rogue glared at Stryfe, her lip trembling. She thought about Kitty laying in the infirmary. Dying. The world's last hope for a hero, dying. Logan at her feet, gored. Leaving a whole school of children vulnerable. "Are you tired of fighting? Come with me, live with the peace of mind that the rest of your friends are fine." Stryfe insisted. He had played cruelly. He had played smart. And he was getting what he wanted.
Scott struggled, veins jutting from his neck as he tried to break free. Rogue blinked. "Cure them." Her voice is gutteral, and unlike her. Even from the bottom of the pyramid, Ororo shakes her head. 'No...' Scott banged his head wildly on the post he was chained to. 'NO,'
The X-Men stare up helplessly at the carnage, like finding out Santa Claus wasn't real. The professor's dream would never happen, they were about to lose. Bobby shook his head, shaking beside Amara. 'No...'
Kurt gripped his hands tight. 'She's planned something...' He insisted to himself. 'Even if she lost Logan, she vould never give up!'
Stryfe flashes his teeth and claps with the gauntlet. "It is done." Rogue shut her eyes and reached out, thousands of miles away. In New York, Kitty sat up with a scream to Hank's surprise. 'Oh my god, what's happening!' She screamed in her mind. Rogue peered inside her mind to see that she was awake, and fine again. She did the same to find Steve awake and alone at the Avengers' compound. She opened her eyes and glared at Stryfe. "I'll do a lot of things, but I always keep my promises."
"I surrender." Scott screamed out, pulling weakly against his restraints. He would die, first.
"Don't do it." He begged her. Stryfe grinned, extending his hand to her. "Rogue-"
"Smart decision. A fight between us wouldn't end well, would it?" She looked back at Logan's body, fighting the urge to succumb to tears. She thought of all the visions, all the different timelines he'd beat her. Destroyed her. That was no more. 'Jean...' She thought, almost forgetting she was no longer in the White Hot Room. She was nowhere, now. Stryfe had confirmed that. There was no afterlife. No nothing. Just a blanket of darkness. That's where Jean had been sent. 'I need you right now...' She thought helplessly, holding herself. But she was all she had.
She thought of Jean and Scott first meeting. She thought of how Jean felt the first time the Phoenix force flowed through her. Jean and Xavier first meeting. Jean and Logan. She thinks about the first time Jean ever used her powers, when her best friend died. She let herself descend into the total chaos of other people's memories, even if it killed her. She felt Jean's pride. Her wildness. Her deep need and longing to belong, to understand herself. Every part of herself. She died wanting that.
The Phoenix force, that ancient force expelled by Jean's death heard Rogue. She heard her weeping for help. For hope. It heard her grief, her rage, her hopelessness. As always, the force found those emotions intoxicating. She needed it. The force had been searching, and failing to find anything like it's affair with Jean Grey. 'This could be it... She could be the one...' If the force had to wait any longer, it would go into Jean's corpse.
It turned, moving at the speed of light to earth.
Stryfe frowned as the temperature began to rise. When the ground began to tremble fiercely, he backed away. Flames reflected in her eyes as the teams watched in awe from below. Even through Jean's heavy memories, all she could see was Logan. Dead. Gone. Removed from her life forever. The more she thought about it, the more the flames swelled. There was no power that could contain her rage, her heartbreak. He had given her the greatest power of all. Stryfe stared, frozen as the Phoenix force seeped into Rogue. She drank up her negative feelings like wine, feeling herself swell.
'I haven't felt this in so long...' The force thought. A cruel sneer spread over Rogue's face. The Avengers, once again, were confused, but the X-Men knew all too well what was happening.
Remy tried to struggle against Piotr to aid her. Laura stared up blankly beside them both. "Lemme go, Russian!" He cursed, struggling for her.
"It is suicide, LeBeau." There was no getting through to her now.
"You thought you could take our love..." She spoke in a chilling voice, devoid of any accent. "And from us you took another." She turned to Logan's still body. Both mutants' love affair with the Phoenix force was as deep as their romance with Jean at this point. "You have made some powerful enemies, you sorry little clone." She clutched a fist, and the gauntlet began to crumble like cheap metal. The Avengers all paled from below. Both Stryfe and some of the X-Men screamed. Rogue walked closer, sending Stryfe scrambling. "You have done anything in your power to drag me out," She raised her hands, twisted like claws. Flames rose behind her. "Now, feel the wrath of Dark Phoenix!"
Stryfe screamed as the flames washed over him. Tony looked back at his team. "Avengers," He pointed up the Pyramid. "Assemble!" The X-Men took that as their cue to bombard Stryfe with all they had. Wanda was screaming like a banshee, hurling her red energy at him with all her might. Emma was in her diamond form, directing students and New Recruits quickly. Kurt teleported quickly to Scott, grabbing him and porting him out of restraints. He did the same for Cable, who fell to his knees immediately.
"Are you okay?!" Kurt asked worriedly. 'He seems sick...' Scott watched in horror as Rogue, consumed by Dark Phoenix, broiling Stryfe. Thor and Ororo rose to the sky, both hammering down on Stryfe with lightning. He managed to teleport out of the way just in time, his eyes wide and on Rogue. It had been a close call, closer than he realized was possible. 'She's... She's a monster...' Her powers made no sense, even the gauntlet didn't make this being fear.
'I'll show her,' He thought angrily in a rage. 'I'll show her, even if I have to destroy her to do it!' He raised his gauntlet and there was silence. "You can't be a bitch if you don't exist." He said, holding the gauntlet.
"NO," Ororo shouted from the sky. He brought the fingers of the gauntlet together and started to snap, light spreading from his hands. Wails filled the desert from the bottom of the pyramid. Shrieking, Rogue threw her hands out. The Avengers watched in shock as Rogue seemingly contained the snap. Tony shook his head, shaking at the thought of how powerful Rogue was. Trying to wield the gauntlet nearly destroyed him. 'Stronger than an Infinity Gauntlet? What are we dealing with?'
Stryfe shouted, pushing with all his might to complete the snap. "Silly little boy," Rogue cooed, clenching her fists. Stryfe howled in agony. "Only one of us here is worthy of wielding that glove." She opened her hands and the blast sent Stryfe sprawling through the sand, the armor on his right side burned. "The difference is, I don't need toys."
"She just deflected the energy of the snap on to him." Natasha said breathlessly beside Clint. "She's stronger than the gauntlet." They turned to each other.
Stryfe shot up, ribbons of skin and flesh hanging filleted off of him. His armor was almost melded to his skin from the heat. 'What the fuck did she do...' He looked up, and there she was. His snap had failed, she still existed. And she had weaponized the Infinity Gauntlet against him. He stared at her, all of his planning did not allow for this. And in no other time did Rogue stand a chance to fight him. Not like this. "You're no Rogue, I've crushed dozens. What the fuck are you?" He spat. She smiled at him. Rogue looked down on him from the sky.
"Your worst nightmare." Soon, the Pyramid itself began to disintegrate around her. She started to hover toward him, her eyes black. The sun was blocked out, all she saw was Stryfe. She was going to make him experience the most pain she could imagine. When he realized she was turning everything around her into cinder, he scrambling backward. 'She's from hell,' He thought, stumbling to his feet. 'No!' She sneered, preparing to turn him into nothing. When her flames reached out to him he disappeared again, Cable taken with him. She frowned. "Always running," She hissed.
The X-Men and Avengers stared at her uncertainly. "Rogue," Tony tried, his shield raised.
"He gone, petite. Ya did it." Remy's auburn hair tossed in front of his eyes as the wind blew, his eyes pleading. "Come back t'us." She turned, sneering.
"Come back?" She looked around, then at herself. "This poor, little girl doesn't want to return." Her stare became hard. "She's heartbroken. Tired. Dead. Rogue is no more, there is only Dark Phoenix!" She snarled, hovering with flames around her.
"De Rogue Remy know wouldn't allow dis, not through her body." Remy chastised, knowing it was up to him to bring her to her senses. He stood before the powerful entity. 'Logan is gone now,' He thought, his chest tightening. 'He can never get her out of these blackouts again.' "She don't let nobody, not even her psyches push her around, non? Logan would be heartbroken to see you this way-"
The mention of Logan triggers both Rogue and the Phoenix force. She rises in a wave of flames, her eyes mad. But tears are leaking down her face. She is a scared, sad little girl with the cosmos inside of her. Scott unleashed an optic blast onto her. He ripped his visor off and shot at her desperately.
"I know you're in there," He cried, tears leaking down his face. Rogue screamed shrilly as the gamma radiation overloaded her. Rogue could feel the force, burning hot and coursing through her veins. 'Reject it,' She thought weakly. 'I can't keep it, I'm not strong enough. Stryfe is gone. Reject it.' With a scream, the white force rocketed out of her and back to space. With a sigh, Rogue fell weakly into Remy's arms as he peered into her face.
Scott landed at their side, fumbling to put his visor on. 'Please be okay,' He thought, his chest squeezing painfully. He brushed her hair out of her face with a gloved hand. "Rogue?" She blinked, moaning as she opened her eyes.
"Scott?" He smiled in relief when he saw her eyes. Remy sighed in relief, batting at his own. They lived to fight another day, even if it wasn't without sacrifices. They all had to be grateful for that, that it wasn't over. "Remy-"
"Don't talk," Scott hushed, his face breaking. She smiled up at him.
"Did I beat him?" Both Scott and Remy hung their heads.
"Ya defended us, chére." Remy urged, his eyes shining. "You got more time fo' us, again." She frowned, her tongue feeling thick in her mouth. "Ya did a good job."
"Where's Logan?" She asked, her voice small. Her whole body felt like dead weight, barely connected as she laid there, fatigued. She already knew the answer, but she didn't want to believe it. It could only be a nightmare, not the truth. She never could've let him die... She shut her eyes and tears began to silently leak down her face. Remy looked away, and Scott's brow furrowed.
"I'm sorry, Rogue..." He told his, his fist clenched. He knew how hard this was for her. She sat up and began to sob again, her forehead leaning on his arm. He held her for a long moment as everyone collectively wondered what to do next. Stryfe was in the wind. Logan was gone. Students and administrators spent a moment with Logan, talking to him. Wishing him well. Thanking him, saying goodbye. Even Scott. Funny, he had hated him enough to split up the school but he cried genuine tears, now. 'It makes no sense...' He thought bitterly.
He had genuinely hated Logan, and he was still hurt to see him go.
Laura stayed anchored beside his body, her eyes blank. She had just figured out how to let people in, starting with him. She couldn't register losing him after all that. She was letting people say goodbye, but she growled at Piotr every time he tried to lift his broken body. "Laura," He tried gently. "I know this is hard, and I am sorry-" He reached out for her but jerked away, tears streaming silently down her face. The Russian sighed, he knew Kitty would be also devastated once she found out. There was no protecting her, she would see it on all their faces.
He wasn't looking forward to that. Kitty had been saved, he wanted to rejoice. But they couldn't. Stryfe had taken that from them, too.
With much protest from Remy and Ororo, Rogue stood slowly and approached the pyramid where Logan lay. Sweat dripped down her brow as she stumbled on her feet, determined to get up the pyramid.
The mutant stared up in daze for a long time, the events replaying over and over in her mind. Thinking of anything she'd do differently. She'd do again, a million times. She knew she was gonna be the only one who could talk Laura down. Her skin was white as a ghost, dozens of red cuts lining her body. She steeled her face, wondering if she was ready to face him again herself. "Are ya sure ya okay?" Remy pressed, the Avengers hanging back awkwardly. None of them knew what to say. She nodded, tears in her eyes. He held her arm with a shaking hand.
"I'll meet ya back at the institute. Tell 'em I'll be back when I handle..." She blinked back tears, inhaling deeply. He nodded, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"You got it." He broke away from her, watching as she solemnly ascended the pyramid, kneeling beside Laura. He didn't have to say anything to them, they knew. He turned sadly and boarded the X-Jet.