Sorry, hate fight scenes. Some might seemed like I skipped some scenes that's because I can't write fight scenes and this entire chapter was one big fight scene. Out of all the ones I've written for this story so far, this is the one I have been dreading the most. The others weren't as bad, but this kept going back and forth.

Special thanks to: tfobmv18, xXxrenegadexromancexXx, DarkBombayAngel, laenamoradadeROGUE, RogueNya, and Wanda W! Thank you guys so much for reviewing the last chapter and sharing your thoughts and opinions of the fic so far. It is very much appreciated! :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing, if I did, certain Marvel writers would not be allowed to touch the characters! I swear fanfic writers know more about the characters than Marvel does!


It was not hard to find the Shadow King. The creature that inhibited Charles Xavier's body made itself appear in a deserted area of Maine. There were few trees around and there were more hills than flat grassy ground. The Shadow King stood at the bottom of a small hill with his arms behind his back and a smile on his face with his eyes closed. He did not need his eyes open to know who had come to attempt to defeat him. In fact, he was expecting them to show.

The X-Men had landed the jet a few miles back in case things got out of hand and the Shadow King destroyed it or used it as a weapon against them. Rogue stayed a half mile away from the rest of them and waited for Cyclops to tell her when they engaged with the Shadow King. Once they started, she was to try and concentrate on his mind and enter it. She kissed Gambit one last time for luck before they went to battle.

"I was wondering when you would show up, if you ever did. It makes me ashamed that I created a group that was not strong enough to find me earlier." The Shadow King spoke when the X-men were within feet of him. None of them made any movement. They were all warned that he would try to bait them into attacking and were to ignore his comments.

"We know you are not Charles Xavier." Cyclops spoke and placed his hand to his visor when the black eyes opened and stared at the group. A part of him was still afraid that they might have to kill Xavier in order to stop the Shadow King. The man had been a father to him after he had lost his family and his own brother wanted nothing to do with him. Xavier had filled the void in his life and made him feel accepted and loved along with the rest of the X-Men. He also knew that Charles would never want to be the reason for hundreds of murders and would want to be put down before anyone else was hurt.

"It just shows how little you know of your mentor." The Shadow King laughed as he began to hover in the air. "He finds a bunch of weaklings to fight for his foolish dream. He is a powerful telepath and yet does nothing. He could easily accomplish his dream if he entered the minds of his enemies."

"It just shows how little you know of him. He wants peace between humans and mutants, but doesn't want it done by force. He wants people to come to the conclusion that mutants are not a threat themselves." Cyclops argued back.

"It's already too late for that." The Shadow King laughed again before he continued. "And I have only just begun." He said as Iceman sent an ice beam at him and started the battle.

"Rogue, now." Cyclops whispered into the communicator as the rest of the X-Men began fighting the Shadow King.

A half mile away Rogue finally got the cue to enter the Shadow King's mind. She did not respond to Cyclops and got to work right away. She sat down on the grass and placed her right hand to her forehead and closed her eyes. She was not an expert at telepathy yet, but had gained some knowledge from Psylocke.

She felt like she was floating as her mind wandered through the field and passed by three of the minds of her teammates. She could see what was going in their minds, but ignored it as she concentrated on the Shadow King. His mind was different from the others. Cyclops, Polaris, and Iceman's minds were grey and open. Gambit's was a dark red and blocked up along with Chamber's with the exception of orange. The Shadow King's mind was purple and a wall blocked her out.

She stood in front of the wall and ran a hand across it. It felt like cement and was cold. She could hear yelling from behind her, but blocked it out. She knew the only way to help her teammates was to enter his mind and stop him. She clenched her hands into fists and began pounding on the wall using her super strength.

The purple wall did not crumble at first. She continued to pound on it and refused to give up until the wall was down. After three minutes of hitting the same spot a crack finally emerged and she smiled. She slammed her fist into the wall again and it slowly began to chip away. When a small hole was formed, she reached her hand in and began tearing the wall until she was able to fit through.

Rogue looked around as soon as she got through the hole and found herself in a coliseum. The floor below her was grey with purple fog that circled her legs. Above her were bleachers with shadows with yellow eyes staring down at her. She looked around and almost took a step back when she saw Xavier chained in a cell under the bleachers to her left.

"Professor?" She called and started walking towards him when a blinding flash blinded her temporarily and she felt a force send her back. She hit the cement wall leaving a dent before she fell to the ground. Pieces of the wall fell down on either side of her. She looked up to see something from a nightmare: the Shadow King.

His blue body stood nine feet tall with fog radiating off of it. His head was long with yellow glowing eyes looking down at her. His teeth reminded her of a shark's with each razor sharp tooth long and showing from the smile that seemed plastered on his face. Claw like hands extended from his long arms that seemed to reach down to his knees. "So, one was able to slip through. I was expecting them to try this, but didn't think one would be able to penetrate my shields." He said, his demonic voice sending shivers down her spine.

She glanced behind him to see Xavier's head hanging on his chest and eyes were closed. She knew she would have to wake him up somehow. She turned her attention back to the Shadow King when she heard cheers from the shadow crowd from the bleachers.

"I am surprise they send a little girl to fight me. It is almost insulting." The Shadow King glared down trying to intimidate her while taking a step forward.

"Maybe it's cause they don't think ya that big of a threat if they send little old me ta defeat ya." Rogue shot back at him and clenched her fists ready to fight.

The Shadow King only laughed only to annoy Rogue. She flew forward, planning on wiping that smug look off of his face. The Shadow King's left arm turned into a hammer and when Rogue got close enough, he swung it at her expecting to send her back into the wall. He didn't expect her to phase through it and fly through the other side and kick him in the back of the head.

Shadow King turned around and narrowed his eyes at her. "Perhaps I overestimated you." He said as he dodged out of the way of an ice beam that was aimed at his legs. A metal spear formed in his hand and he threw it at Rogue, directing it with the stolen powers from Magneto.

Rogue used the same power and stopped the spear before it reached her. It became a struggle over who had better control over magnetism. A torch on the top of the coliseum caught her eyes and she used her other hand to create a giant flaming bat to fly at the Shadow King. With the distraction and his concentration broken, Rogue was able to send the spear back at him and pierce his chest while the bat torched him.

Rogue quickly flew to the caged Professor and ripped the bars separating them. "Professor?" Rogue shook his arm and was relieved when he opened his eyes. "We gotta get outta here." She told him before another spear was thrown between her and Xavier. She looked over to see the Shadow King not looking pleased.

Rogue quickly broke the chains supporting Xavier in hopes that he would help her. She left him and turned her attention to the Shadow King. "Ya really know how ta piss a girl off." She snarled and flew at him once again. She knew she could only fight him and it was up to Xavier to kick him out of his mind. Otherwise, she could be fighting him for years.

Brotherhood house

Revanche found Mystique walking down the hallway heading for the stairs. "We have a problem." She alerted the blue shape shifter who turned to the purple haired woman. "The X-Men are outside." She warned and Mystique grinded her teeth.

"Tell the others to go out and meet them. I will not allow them to take the senator just yet." She snarled as she raced up the stairs.

Revanche walked down the hallway quickly to the TV room to alert the others. "Get outside now." She ordered to Avalanche and Toad who were in the kitchen. Both looked at her and turned back to what they were doing. She stepped into the kitchen and drew her katana from its sheath strapped around her waist. She pressed the blade to Toad's throat and his eyes grew wide. "It was not a request, it was an order. The X-men are almost here and Mystique does not want them taking Creed." She told the bug eyed mutant.

"Right." Toad squeaked when she pulled the blade away from him. She watched as Avalanche and Toad ran out of the kitchen and towards the back door. She made her way down the hallway back to the TV room. She could hear an applause coming from the television and the announcer speaking. She found Wanda and John sitting on the couch side by side with Pietro in a chair to their left glaring at them. Blob sat in the chair to the right fast asleep with drool hanging out of his mouth.

"We are under attack, Mystique wants you outside." Revanche told the younger mutants with the sword still at her side until she placed it back.

"Let me guess, the X-Men?" Pyro asked as she stood up with a small smile. He rolled the lighter in his fingers before he opened it and clicked it shut. He hoped for a rematch with Iceman.

"Whatever, at least it's something to do." Scarlet Witch said as she got up from the couch and glanced over at Blob. She raised her hand and elevated the glass of water that was sitting next to him and dumped it on him, waking him up as he shot up and wiped the water off his face. "Needed to get rid of the drool, it was disgusting." She commented as she turned back to John and her brother.

Outside in the backyard, the X-Men were approaching the Brotherhood house when they saw Toad and Avalanche exit through the door and spotted them. "This shouldn't be hard, ya already fried that guy." Wolverine commented to Storm as the group surrounded the two.

"Don't you people have anything better to do than to attack us? Dancing with the Stars is going to be on in a few hours." Avalanche complained to X-Men as he stretched his arms out in front of him.

"Don't worry, it's a repeat." Shadowcat stated.

Wolverine unsheathed his claws and Colossus metal armor form covered his skin. The clouds began to swirl around and the sky darkened as lightening flashed. The door to the house opened and Pyro, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Revanche, and Blob stepped out.

"Let me guess you loss more members because no one wants to join the X-Men and want to take it out on us?" Pyro taunted as he noticed the team was much smaller than usual.

"At least our team can actually win and not get the crap beat out of it." Shadowcat shot back and then noticed Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. She had not seen them since they left the school. "I supposed it is fitting for a bitch to join another one." She gave a smile as Scarlet Witch's eyes narrowed and her fists began to glow. The lawn furniture was raised into the air and flung at the X-Men.

Colossus and Wolverine blocked the furniture being thrown and Storm used wind to send the pieces that Wolverine tore apart with his claws back at the Brotherhood. Psylocke ran past them and was heading for the door when Revanche stood in her way with her katana drawn. "You are not going anywhere." She warned and engaged the ninja.

Colossus protected Shadowcat from the flames of Pyro's lighter until Storm made it rain and put out the fire. Quicksilver ran around taking swipes at Wolverine and Jubilee. "Come on, is that the best you can do?" Quicksilver laughed as he smacked Jubilee in the face. She shook her head to clear the dizziness she felt and saw Quicksilver start beating on Wolverine who began slashing at the white haired mutant. She saw him coming back towards her when she used her powers and blinded him. Quicksilver screamed and covered his eyes, giving Wolverine enough time to hit him in the back of the head and knock him out.

Shadowcat held onto Colossus as Avalanche create a small earthquake, knocking almost everyone off their feet. They slowly moved closer to the earth moving mutant, but he caught sight of them and caused the earth to crack beneath Colossus feet. Shadowcat slowly crawled away from him and tried to get out of his sight so she could attack him from behind.

Scarlet Witch grew annoyed as everything she threw at Storm was blown back at her. She finally lifted her hand and hexed the white haired woman out of the sky and into the ground, but it did not cause the rain to stop which still left Pyro powerless.

Wolverine circled around Blob as the huge mutant laughed at his smaller size. "I've eaten meals bigger than you." He laughed at Wolverine, who looked more annoyed.

"I can tell ya probably weight ten times more than me too." Wolverine said causing Blob to stop laughing. He slowly began to run towards the feral mutant who charged at him. Wolverine leapt into the air and was able to claw him when he bounced off of Blob's massive stomach and was knocked to the ground.

"You're not allowed to make fun of me!" Blob yelled at Wolverine who was getting to his feet. He glared at the massive mutant and began wondering how he was to defeat him. He knew he couldn't get near Blob without being knocked back, and it looked like the only approach left was from the back.

"Ya don't make sense, bub. Ya made fun of yaself already." Wolverine rolled his eyes at the bigger mutant who began to charge him again. Wolverine ran at him a second time, but waited until he was within feet of Blob and dodged out of the way and turned around to jump on his back. He sunk his claws into the fat of Blob's back on both sides.

"Get off!" Blob yelled and continued running while trying to get Wolverine off his back.

Wolverine leaned right on Blob and it caused the mutant to turn right. Blob continued running and Wolverine planned on aiming for the Scarlet Witch who was beginning to hex Storm around. The white haired woman had enough time to send an electric bolt at Scarlet Witch, but it turned into a rainbow before it hit her.

"This is why I left the X-Men; you people are weak and pathetic." Scarlet Witch snarled as was about to hex Storm into the house when she heard a large thumping sound behind her. She turned around, but was not fast enough to hex Blob as he ran into her and came crashing down as Wolverine pulled his claws out.

"Ya alright, darlin'?" Wolverine asked as he helped Storm to her feet. She looked up at him and nodded. A part of her was happy that he came to her aid, while the other part reminded her that they were no longer together and he was only doing it because he was her teammate.

"Get off!' They heard Scarlet Witch yell from underneath Blob with only her feet sticking out. It almost reminded them of the scene from the Wizard of Oz when the house fell on the witch except they did not dare steal her shoes.

Avalanche continued causing the earth to shake around Colossus and did not notice Shadowcat sneak up behind him until she grabbed the helmet off of his head and smashed it into the back of his head. "Ow, what the hell!" Avalanche turned around and glared at Shadowcat. "You're that little girl I fought with before." He smiled down at her, almost causing her to be sick. She didn't understand why all the creeps were attracted to her with the exception of Piotr.

"I'm the little girl that is going to kick your ass!" Shadowcat said as she kneed him in the groin, causing him to yell out in pain and grab his crotch. She smiled at him before she punched him in the face.

"Well that's one way of taking down the enemy." Colossus commented as he stood by Shadowcat and wrapped an arm around her waist.

"I learned it from Wolvie." She smiled up at him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. They made their way back towards the group with Storm taking care of Toad. Wolverine had gone into the house to hunt down Mystique and Graydon.

"Looks like we're almost done." Jubilee cheered as she approached the couple. She popped a piece of gum into her mouth and offered them a piece, which neither wanted. She chewed a few times before she started blowing a bubble. A sudden scream caused the bubble to burst and it exploded all over her face.

Shadow King Fight

The team was finding it hard and easy at the same time to fight the Shadow King. All they had to do was distract him while Rogue fought his mind. On the other hand, he kept sending psychic blasts at each of them making it hard to concentrate.

Polaris and Iceman seemed to be having the hardest time dealing with it. The two would get back on their feet and fight until another blast caused them to clench their heads in pain. Cyclops, having been dating a telepath for years, had learned how to block out attacks, but even with that some parts of the blast came through. He was only able to shield his mind for a few seconds like how Jean had taught him before it went down and the blast would hit him. Chamber and Gambit both had full blown shields that blocked out any blasts and continued to protect their teammates when they went down.

"I hope Rogue finds the Shadow King soon." Iceman commented as he got back up from his knees with the help of Cyclops.

"We have to give her time. It might take a while, but we can hold him off." Cyclops told the younger mutant as he sent an optic blast at the Shadow King. The villain only laughed and dodged out of the way as the beam missed him.

But we can't keep this up forever. Chamber commented as pieces of wire that were buried in the ground came shooting up and being thrown at the X-Men.

"We have to try." Cyclops said as he blasted the wire before the Shadow King sent another psychic blast at them. This one was stronger than the others and sent all of the X-Men to their knees, including Chamber and Gambit. Chamber felt his shields go down temporarily and felt the blast assault his mind. He pushed his shields up as quickly as he could to recover.

Gambit's shield did not go down like Chamber's. Instead, he felt a crack on his shields and clenched his fist into the grass below him, dirtying up his fingernails as the dirt clumped in them. He never had this happen to his shields before nor did he know how to fix it. A majority of the blast did not hit his mind, only a section of it. However that was not what was affecting him. He had felt his powers acting up ever since his first run in with Weapon X. He was able to control a majority of his power, but now it felt like the dam was about to break and he didn't know for how long he could keep it back.

Iceman, Polaris, and Cyclops were still recovering from the attack and did not notice the Shadow King flinging more scraps of metal at them until it was too late. Gambit quickly recovered and flung his cards at the metal before it hit Polaris and Chamber sent a psionic blast at the one heading for Cyclops. Pieces of metal scrapped through Iceman's uniform and cut into his arm, causing him to cry out in pain.

"Y' alright, chere?" Gambit asked Polaris as he helped her up. Polaris held his hand and her other was to her head.

"I don't know how much more of this I can take." She answered and looked at him.

"Hopefully not much longer." He gave her a small smile and she nodded. She looked over and saw Iceman holding his arm with blood dripping down the side of his black uniform. She went over to help him.

Cyclops, this isn't helping. We need to attack him or he is going to take us all out. Sending small blasts is not going to do anything. Chamber complained to the X-Men leader.

"Just give it more time." Cyclops told him as Gambit joined Chamber. The two younger mutants looked at one another and both wondered how long this was going to last.

Xavier's Mind

Rogue flew at Shadow King and began pounding into him as he moved and slapped her away. She landed a few feet away, but was quickly on her feet again with her fists in front of her. "I must say I am impressed with you. I am willing to spare your life if you join me. Unlike the others that are trying fruitlessly to defeat me. They will all be dead soon and this world will be destroyed." He told her as she stood her ground.

"I ain't gonna join ya, I plan on kickin' your ass. Maybe after that Ah'll relax later and have a glass of wine." Rogue said as she flew at him again and phased through him. She grabbed a hold of his shoulders and began to freeze them, but one of the shadows that was in the crowd jumped out and grabbed her. She screamed as she felt the shadow rip something from her.

She fell to the ground and held her chest as she saw the shadow that attacked her disappear. She didn't know what it did, but something felt like it was missing. "You can try, but it won't matter. Even if you are able to defeat me, this world is still doomed." The Shadow King warned her as another shadow assaulted her.

Rogue cried as the shadow did the same as the first one, and then another one appeared. "What the hell are ya doin' ta me?" She yelled at him as the shadows disappeared like the first.

"I gave you a chance to save yourself and you threw it away. Now you shall be destroyed along with your miserable pathetic friends that are trying to stop me." The Shadow King laughed at Rogue, who tried to pick herself up. Metal knives formed in the air beside him and flung themselves at Rogue. She brought her arm up to protect her face and they embedded themselves in her arm.

Rogue pulled the knives out of her arm and watched as the healing factor took effect. "I am surprised you don't know what is happening. You can't feel it?" He asked as Rogue held the knives in her hand and tried to use her powers to fling them back at him, but nothing happened. She tried it again, but she couldn't feel the same control over the metal like before.

She finally realized what the shadows were doing, they were stripping her of her extra powers. She looked up at the torch and tried to control the fire, but nothing happened as she raised her hand. She wondered what other powers she had lost. She knew the healing factor still work along with her flight, and super strength.

"Ah don't need extra powers ta defeat ya, Ah'll kick your ass with my own hands!" Rogue yelled at him and flew at him. She punched him in the face and kicked him on his side, but he only took a step back and did not seem affected. "Ya ain't gonna hurt anyone else and ya sure as hell gonna leave the Professor's mind!" She yelled as three bone claws appeared through both of her knuckles.

She savagely attacked him repeatedly by slashing him, but his body only reformed. She wished that she had been with the rest of the team where it would have been more affective. Like with Malice, anything she did to the Shadow King in Xavier's mind would have no effect. The only way to defeat him was for Xavier to push him out of his mind or for the team to destroy Xavier.

"I don't think so." The Shadow King snarled as another shadow came up behind Rogue and grabbed her. She felt two shadows enter her and she fell to the ground. She watched as the bone claws slid back in and her knuckles began to bleed. The shadows emerged and disappeared next to the Shadow King. "Soon you will be nothing, but a pathetic human. That is what you wanted originally, isn't it? For your powers to be gone so you could be normal. Well you are getting your wish, and don't worry you will join your friends in death." The Shadow King told her as he assaulted her mind and she clenched her head.

"Enough!" Xavier shouted from behind them. Rogue lowered her hands and glanced at Charles Xavier, who looked and acted more like the man she had met years ago with the exception he was standing. His eyes were narrowed and he took a step forward towards the Shadow King. "I let you take control over my mind, but not anymore. I let your darkness corrupt my mind, but I will end it." Charles said as he continued walking up to the Shadow King as if he wasn't a threat.

The Shadow King turned his attention to Xavier. "You did not let me, you were weak minded. That is why your student destroyed you." Shadow King stated before he tried to move, but found his body paralyzed. His eyes, the only thing that was able to move, looked down at his limbs and they would not obey him.

"I am sending you to the far ends of the astral plane where you will not disturb anyone. You are only an entity, just like the Phoenix, that wants to create evil and destroy innocent lives. The world will be free of you." Xavier told the Shadow King as a white portal appeared next to the blue entity.

Cracks of lightening emerged from the portal and wind began to blow inward, catching the shadows that had been watching and dragged them in. Rogue covered her ears as the screams from the shadows shrieked worse than someone running their fingers over a chalk board. "You will not be sending me into that abyss!" The Shadow King shouted after breaking free of Xavier's grip on him.

Shadow King slowly moved forward, trying to get away from the glowing white portal that tried to suck him in. Rogue wiped the blood from her hands on her uniform. She watched as Xavier raised a hand to his forehead and began trying to push the Shadow King into the portal, but the monster wouldn't budge. "Oh no ya don't!" She snarled as flew at the Shadow King and shoved him in with a punch to his chest. The extra push was all Xavier needed to send the Shadow King through the portal and into the furthest ends of the astral plane.

Brotherhood

Shadowcat covered her mouth as tears formed in her eyes. On every mission she had been on or heard of teammates had gotten hurt or seriously injured that they could not leave the med bay for weeks. Even with Jean Grey the woman came back to life only to be killed again. She had seen the red haired woman's body after she had been killed a second time, but never saw Logan stab her. She never thought she would see another teammate die until this day.

By the house, Psylocke and Revanche's fight had come to an end with Revanche's sword lodged in Psylocke's chest and the blond haired woman's psy-blade in Revanche's skull. Both women had screamed before they fell to the ground lifelessly.

"Betsy!" Jubilee screamed as she and the others raced over to their fallen teammate. Colossus knelt down beside her on the left while the two young girls pulled the sword out and tried to cover the wound. Psylocke's eyes were open and staring at the sky. She would open her mouth slightly before closing it as if she was trying to breath.

"Come on, you can't do this." Shadowcat cried as she pulled the sleeve she had torn from her uniform away to find it coated in blood and more was pooling out. She looked up at Colossus who didn't know what to do. Storm finally sent Toad into a tree and knocked him out before she could join the group.

"How is she?" Storm asked as she knelt down next to Colossus. She took Betsy's hand and felt her pulse slowing down and blood start dripping from the corner of Psylocke's mouth.

Wolverine raced up the stairs catching the scent of Graydon from the upstairs. He didn't bother checking the room and headed for the last door to the right. He kicked it open to find Graydon Creed lying unconscious on the bed with his hands and feet unbound. He could smell Mystique's scent in the air, but the shape shifter was nowhere to be found.

"Coward." He muttered as he checked Creed's pulse to find it normal. He found a gash on the side of the senator's head, but he would be fine. Wolverine lifted the younger man into his arms and carried him down the stairs. By the time he got back outside he found his teammates huddled around the form of Psylocke with tears in their eyes.

Wolverine set the senator down on the ground and slowly made his way over. He already had a feeling he knew what happened. Jubilee was crying and Shadowcat's head was buried into Colossus's chest. Storm looked up at him with tears in her eyes. He bowed his head for their fallen teammate and said nothing.

Storm finally wiped her eyes and stood up. "We need to get back to the mansion. We need to find out how the others are doing." She said trying to remain calm even in the hardest situation. She was supposed to be in charge of the team and one had died during the mission. Once again she felt like a failure.

"I'll take Psylocke, Colossus take the senator. We'll drop him off on the way home." Wolverine instructed the other male who nodded.

The team slowly began to walk away from the Brotherhood house while it's members began to recover. Pyro was digging Scarlet Witch out from Blob's fat and Quicksilver was beginning to regain conscious. Avalanche was still on the ground try to recover. Toad hung upside down from a tree with his clothes and skin scorched.

The purple haired woman opened her eyes and looked around. She saw the Brotherhood regrouping and the X-Men nowhere in sight. "It's so like Mystique to ditch us." She heard one of them say, but did not pay attention.

"You alright, Revanche?" Quicksilver asked the purple haired woman who looked at him with confusion.

"What?" Psylocke asked as she caught sight of her appearance in the glass of the door. She was no longer in her body, but in the body of Revanche's.


The team was in a defense and ready for another attack when Xavier clenched his head in his hands and slowly lowered himself to the ground. The others looked at one another and wondered if this was the end. They had been distracting the Shadow King for quite a while and prayed it was all over.

Cyclops was the first to approach Xavier's still form while the others stayed back in case it was a trap. Cyclops bent down next to the Professor and opened his eyes to see that they were reverted back to normal. He sighed in relief that they did not have to kill Xavier if Rogue failed. He didn't know if he could ever bring himself to do it or allow anyone on the team to.

Cyclops turned back to the others and nodded to them. Iceman, Chamber, and Polaris moved forward to join Cyclops while Gambit jogged back to where Rogue was located to make sure she was okay.

"Sir?" Cyclops asked as he sat Xavier up with the help of Iceman. Charles slowly opened his eyes and looked at the X-Men around him. A sigh of relief escaped him as he closed his eyes for a brief second.

"Are you alright?" Iceman asked him as he let go when Xavier was able to sit on his own, but Cyclops did not leave his side.

"Yes, thanks to all of you." Charles finally spoke. "I wish I had the strength all of you have shown. After the Phoenix killed me, a part of her darkness crept inside my mind and began to take over once I regain consciousness. I wanted to stop it, but it grew stronger until it took over and began destroying everything." Charles said with guilt hinted in his voice over the actions that he committed as the Shadow King.

"I was lucky that you were able to help stop the Shadow King before he did anymore damage. I am proud of each of you." Xavier told them before Chamber and Cyclops helped him up. Polaris checked on Iceman's arm which they had wrapped in the torn cloth of his uniform for the time being.

Gambit found Rogue lying on the ground with her eyes open staring at the sky. A small smile was on her face that only widened when Remy came into view. "Y' alright?" He asked her as he sat down next to her.

"Ya, I'm just glad it is all over. It was a lot harder than when Ah fought Malice, but the Shadow King is gone and we can finally move on." Rogue told him as she sat up. "Ah also lost a lot of my powers during the fight. In a way, Ah'm kinda relieved. Havin' all those powers meant more responsibility and expectations from everyone. Ah don't want that. Ah wanna be able to act my age instead of twenty years older." She stated.

Remy smiled and moved a piece of white hair away from her face and tucked it behind her ear. "I'd still love y' even if y' had none." He said as she stared into his glowing red eyes. She brushed her bare hand against his and felt his fingers between his.

"Ya love me?" Rogue asked him, her eyes beginning to tear up.

"Since de moment I laid eyes on-" He began to say when Rogue kissed him and ran wrapped her hands around his neck. He brought a hand to the side of her face and into her hair.

"Ah love ya too, swamp rat." Rogue whispered to him as they broke away from the kiss.

End of Chapter 29

This was my solution to getting rid of all of Rogue's powers mainly. I don't care for a Rogue with all powers and is unbeatable. It makes her boring and mary-sueish to me. I like her with her super strength, flight, and absorption powers, which she still has. As for Psylocke, she is now has the purple hair and how people usually see her. She's not dead, but the X-Men think she is. Also, the Wolverine riding Blob part was inspired by the video game. I know it's cheesy, but I am writing at 2 in the morning and that is what my mind comes up with.

Also sorry, as I've said before, hate fight scenes I am bad at them. Especially trying to explain when it's on the astral plane. At least there is no more of those. Well, there might be one.

Sneak Peak: I had part of the next chapter written a month ago, unfortunately it's not that good of a sneak peak, but it's the only thing I got so far and it is kinda creepy. Also, two more chapters until a familiar face shows up again!

Remy ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Every man has a price to charge and a price to pay." He repeated what Jean-Luc had once told him.

"Exactly, dis is y'r price to pay for de choices y' made." Etienne explained to him.

"Is dere somethin' I can do to stop it?" Remy asked his cousin with pleading eyes. "Please Etienne, I need to know what I can do to save her. I can't lose her like Bella or Genny." He fell to his knees in front of his cousin