-A/N-: Ah. Due to the growing number of threats I've been receiving through reviews and private messages telling me to UPDATE or suffer an untimely death (or something along those lines), I have decided to make a comeback much sooner than I had planned. Hah. So, without further ado, here's chapter twenty-six.

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Rogue's head swam as she slowly cracked her eyes open. Her blurred vision didn't stop her from dimly discerning the fact that she was lying stomach-first on the hard, dusty ground in an extremely uncomfortable position. Her hands were carelessly bound behind her back and her mouth was gagged by a piece of cloth. Her forehead throbbed dully with pain and she wouldn't have been surprised if a large welt had swelled up where she'd been struck that night.

Wait. Rogue's scattered thoughts stopped racing at a million miles per second as she backtracked and painstakingly tried to recall what caused her to end up in her current, feeble state; tried to think back to what had caused her to black out. It was dark, it was night, it was… in the mansion kitchens.

Someone attacked me…?

But all the thinking made her head spin even more. She shut her eyes tightly, biting her lower lip in an attempt to drive the pain away and clear her mind.

It wasn't long before she heard them. Footsteps. And very soon, voices. Two distinctly different voices—one of was somewhat vaguely familiar, but the other one was not quite. She opened her bleary eyes once more, this time taking in the dark, musty surroundings of an old room. An old storage room by the look of it. All of a sudden, the two speaking figures appeared in her line of sight, but they were too far away and it was much too dark to make them out. She squeezed her eyes shut yet again, feigning unconsciousness.

"—had an agreement and you know that," the first person spoke in a bold tone. He was clearly agitated in some way. "I brought the girl to you. You had better keep your promise, old man."

Rogue could've sworn that she had heard that voice before. Somewhere, somewhere… It seemed so familiar. But in her current state, she couldn't, for the life of her, place a face to that voice.

"Don't you worry, you poor fool," the second voice reverberated deeply throughout the room. "I always keep my promises. The girl's incompetent comrades should be here soon. In a matter of hours, you will have what you so desire."

Rogue couldn't help but squirm on the floor at the sound of such a cold, bloodless voice. She hoped that the two strangers wouldn't notice her fidgeting.

There was a sudden sharp intake of breath, and then…

"I think our pitifully pathetic prisoner has finally decided to awaken."

Damn. Rogue's heart sped up as she took in the sounds of heavy footsteps making their way in her direction.

"Careful, her powers may kill you," the first voice said quickly.

"Don't you worry about me, lad. I'd be more worried about her."

Her eyes flew open as she felt herself being roughly pulled up into a sitting position by powerful hands clad in black, ominous-looking leather gloves. Seconds later, a man's face appeared just inches from hers, intimidating and almost zombie-like.

She realised who it was almost instantly. And she would've screamed, if it weren't for the grubby rag in her mouth that prevented her from doing so. She was face-to-face with Ezekiel Blacken himself.

This must mean I've been… Rogue's eyes widened in realisation. Shit.

The man gave her a broad smile. But there was nothing remotely friendly about it. "Hello, my mutant friend. Nice of you to finally join us."

Despite the fear and unease hidden deep inside her, she managed to direct a glare full of hatred and contempt at the man in front of her. It wasn't like she could say anything anyway. If she could, she wouldn't have been able to bite back an acid comment about how ugly he looked.

Blacken leered at the helpless girl before him, his eyes glittering on the edge of insanity. "Finally," he continued softly, ignoring the defiant stare from Rogue, "I've always wanted to meet one of Xavier's prized… X-Men." He licked his lips almost joyously and Rogue recoiled in disgust.

"You're my hostage as of now," Blacken went on, reaching into his back pocket with one hand. Rogue's eyes widened as she watched him leisurely pull out a knife and wave it in front of her face. Its metallic blade reflected what little light there was in the dark room.

Fuck. He's going to kill me!

Blacken twirled the blade expertly between his gloved fingers, smirking as he noticed the horror written all over Rogue's ashen face. "When your friends arrive in their vain attempts to steal you back," he growled, "I'll kill them all. Their valiant efforts of a rescue mission will all be for naught."

He looked at her, his expression suddenly thoughtful. "But for now," he said at last, "I'll at least grant you some comfort within this room. Before I kill you as well."

Blacken grabbed her arms from behind her back and dexterously slashed at the rope binding Rogue's wrists. The cord untwined and dropped to the ground, and she regained the use of her hands. Massaging her sore wrists, she instantly realised that her hands weren't gloved.

Without thinking, without hesitating, she did the one thing that came to her mind. Jerking forward impulsively, she reached out her hands and placed them both over Blacken's face in a pathetic attempt to suck the life out of him.

The man snarled. "What the hell do you think you're doing, you stupid child?" he yelled deafeningly, struggling to get out of her grip.

But Rogue held on firmly, a grim, uncomprehending expression on her face.

"Are you trying to kill yourself?" Blacken screamed. "Do you truly want to die so badly?" He pried Rogue's hands off his face, her nails raking down his cheeks, and then he pulled back and slapped her harshly in anger and rage.

Rogue cried out in pain, one hand going up to meet her stinging cheek. Already, it was starting to swell. And she looked back at the infuriated man, staring at her handiwork. Apart from the scratches she had caused, which were bleeding profusely, the man seemed unharmed. Unscathed. Unhurt. He seemed…

Untouched.

Worse still, Rogue realised that she hadn't absorbed any memories, any feelings… anything, from this man. He was untouched. By her powers.

No… It can't… He can't be…

Blacken raised his arm again to strike her.

And only one thing registered in her mind before it went dark.

He's… not… human. Stay away… John…

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All through the painstakingly slow Blackbird flight to the Woodbridge Mental Asylum, John had kept largely to himself. Which wasn't a difficult feat because everyone left him well alone with his beloved lighter, knowing that he wasn't much in the mood for civilised conversation just about then. In fact, he was pretty sure he'd just give them a short, snappy reply equivalent to giving them the finger.

He cast a sideways glance at the woman who sat across the aisle from him. Raven Darkholme's pale skin and gleaming, jet-black hair looked out of the ordinary to John. He was never used to seeing her without blue skin and neon eyes, that is if she wasn't someone else entirely. For a long while, she'd been looking out the tiny window overlooking city buildings and skyscrapers in an almost bored manner, until she realised she was being watched. Turning, she held John's gaze with a level stare.

John shrugged and turned back to his zippo, not caring in the least that Bobby and Kitty weren't appreciating the noise he was making.

Can this stupid jet go any slower?

He tried to calm his nerves. His anxiety was getting the better of him. It was making him unnecessarily moody and irritable. But why wouldn't he be? Rogue was out there, somewhere, without him. And he hated it whenever she wasn't in his line of sight.

"Hey, Kid. Could you stop that incessant racket with that toy of yours? It's giving me a headache."

John raised an eyebrow, looking to the co-pilot seat where Logan sat, and scowled sullenly. It's not my fault you can hear a pin drop from a mile away. He pocketed his lighter reluctantly.

"We'll be approaching our destination soon," Storm announced.

Finally.

Minutes before their destination came into view, Storm activated the Blackbird's stealth mechanism, shielding the jet from the vision of anyone who might be looking into the sky at that moment.

The asylum was located away from prying eyes on the outskirts of the city, in the middle of a huge cluster of trees that resembled a quiet, isolated forest. From the sky, it looked more like a haunted prison that wouldn't have been out of place in a ghost story rather than an actual mental institution to John. Then again, it was meant for demolition more than ten years ago.

Storm circled high overhead once, ensuring there wasn't an ambush waiting for them on the ground, nor any anti-aircraft defences that would jeopardise their rescue mission. Satisfied, she manoeuvred the Blackbird to land at a safe distance from the enemy's headquarters on a clear patch of ground. The only other thing in their view, apart from trees and shrubbery, was the asylum.

It looked for all the world like someone's idea of a death trap.

As the engines to the jet quietened down and were finally cut, its occupants unbuckled themselves from their seats and prepared for conflict.

And so, the game begins. I'm coming… Marie.

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-A/N-: THERE. It is done. Although it was rather short… And I suppose that without all the continuous support from readers out there, this chapter wouldn't have made it out till… next Christmas or something. I guess those threats DID come in useful, eh? Hah.

To the loyal readers, new and old, who reviewed chapter 25 (namely RedMagic, zshp1411, Alexandra-Black, Fallen Heart, Dementa, PsYcHoThErApY, TPolTucker, Cestari, hollyparker, BrownEyedAngel14, we-r-the-cure, Tiniwiel, blonde-gal, 6481, Psyc0gurl0, xLiLix, yaba, Fangirl of all Fangirls, SupportSeverusSnape, Chica De Los Ojos Cafe, Dama Jade, Semmit, Angelic.Dark, tHe TrUtH about RoSeS, secondrate, MySunshine, SingingInMySleep, xXnarutofan-22Xx, Dawns Heart, Obiwanfan, BizarreLemon, SamanthaMT, the sillylittlepanda, MorbidSeraph, Elrrina, wingedraksha, Carline and Ambaron Luxuria), I have only one thing to say: I LOVE YOU GUYS.

I'll do review responses in my next chapter. I promise.

For now, just wait as John and the X-Men (and Mags and Mystique) arrive to save the day!