(Wow, I can't believe I managed to crank almost all of this out in one day. For those of you who didn't catch it last chapter, Tessa Fox is Sage. Please review and enjoy.)
A few days passed without incident for Rogue. No strange dreams or sudden super strength but something did feel wrong to her. Like something was chipping away inside of her head and no painkillers she took made it go away. Despite her headache, Rogue decided to go to school. She figured she could handle it just like she handled all the dirty looks, insults, and threats. Random thoughts and images continued to inject themselves into her mind, making it hard to concentrate on her first two classes.
She was on here way to her next class when a sudden burst of images and pain filled her head. A loud voice seemed to yell inside her head. Let me out! Rogue stumbled towards the women's bathroom and nearly tripped into the door before the image of Kitty flashed before her eyes.
Instead of pushing the door open, she walked right through it. Rogue gasped, glad that the only person inside the room didn't see that. And much to her surprise, that person was Risty Wilde. "Rogue, there you are. I've been looking all over for you." said Risty. "Risty? Where have ya'll been? You just completely disappeared." said Rogue. "Stuck in England. My parents wouldn't let me come back here with all the…" sighed Risty before noticing Rogue's guilty look.
"…You know fuss and everything. I finally talked them into it." Risty quickly added, trying not to put the blame on Rogue. At least she doesn't hate me thought Rogue. The two walked outside to a lunch table, thankfully no one else was around.
"Rogue I am so sorry I wasn't here for you." said Risty. "If anybody should apologize it's me. You're one of my best friends and ah was hiding who ah really was from you." said Rogue. She groaned as another burst of thoughts and images with Storm filled her head. The sky darkened above her as storm clouds formed. Lightning streaked across the sky followed by earth shaking thunder. Rogue struggled to regain her mind. Then the thoughts and images were gone, along with the storm clouds.
"Are you okay Rogue? Is that your power? Controlling weather? Because I think that's awesome." said Risty. "No, that's not me or at least it shouldn't be me." said Rogue, confused. She took off her right hand glove. "If I were to touch you right now, I'd probably put you in a coma. Your life force, your memories, everything about you would all flow into me." explained Rogue.
"That's…freaky. Well that would explain why you're always dressed up all the time." said Risty. "Yeah but the weird thing is that it's like all the people I've touched stay inside me. At first it wasn't so hard to deal with. The occasional nightmares and déjà vu. But now it's like there's only one voice in my head now. It's strong Risty and I think it wants out." said Rogue. "Maybe you just need to relax a little. You know, take some time off. Tell you what, I've got two tickets to the Stone Ciphers concert tonight." Risty said. Rogue smiled. "Sure. I've kinda having you around."
"Storm, I thought there were supposed to be clear skies today." said Xavier, rolling up to Monroe in her garden. "That wasn't me Charles." she replied. Charles frowned as he wondered if this was from a new mutant or one they already know.
"I love myself and I cannot lie. You other brothers can't deny. When I walk inside the room you get jealous. Just go ahead and give it up fellas. When it comes to the woman you're a bust cause you're eating nothing but my dust." sang Pietro from the shower. Toad groaned, he hated that song long before Pietro sang it at least four to five times a day. Thankfully, their new home had more six bathrooms and each one had a shower. So instead of sitting around listening to the American Idol reject, Toad moved on. He reached another one only to see Fred walk into that one. No one's going to want to go in that one for the next few hours. Finally, he reached one empty and shut the door behind him. He was about to take a shower as part of his steps to better himself to impress Wanda when the lights flickered. "Stupid wiring." grumbled Toad. Then he noticed something in the mirror. A dark shape began to form in the mirror. The shape oddly enough seemed to resemble a humanoid form.
One of it's arms began to lift itself off the wall, no longer a 2D shadow but now a three dimensional dark translucent shape. The rest of the shape moved off the wall, now standing before Toad. It reached towards him and Toad screamed bloody murder. He leaped at the door, hitting it so hard the door was knocked off it's hinges. He leaped like a madman down the hallway, screaming at the top of his lungs. "HELP ME! HELP!"
"I swear I saw something moving in the study hall last night." said John eating breakfast in the kitchen. While the dinning room had a massive table that could chair thirty people, John preferred to not be alone in the house and Freddy was the only person nearby. This place gave him the creeps.
"You actually read?" asked Fred, flipping pancakes at one of several stoves. "Yes Freddy, I like to read. I was thinking about maybe writing actually. It would at least give me something to do around here." replied John. "Write what?" asked Fred.
"A novel probably, maybe something about…" John explained before the sound of screaming caught his attention. Toad leaped into the room like a bat out of hell and tackled John out of his seat. "HELP ME!" Toad screamed. "Not again." groaned John, trying to shove Todd away from him.
Soon all of the Hood members ran into the kitchen and Kine used his power to force Toad to remain perfectly still. "Seriously, stop hugging anytime you get scared. It's just plain wrong." growled John. "What happened?" asked Wanda. "I saw a ghost and it tried to get me." said Toad, still paralyzed from the neck down. Wanda glared at Chris and Kine then all the plates in the room floated into the air. "Hey! It wasn't us this time, we swear." said Chris, both him and Kine holding up their hands.
"The little tadpole probably just jumped as the sight of his own shadow again." muttered an uninterested Pietro. "No, it was a Shadow Man. They're a type of ghost that takes the form of a humanoid shaped shadow." shot back Toad. "Toad, you really need to stop watching Ghost Hunters." groaned Kine.
"No Toad has a point. I've been reading up about this place and apparently, the former housekeeper reported numerous sightings of a dark translucent shadow person. He called several paranormal investigators but they found nothing. Also, he reported that electrical equipment seemed to flicker or malfunction whenever the shadow was near." said John.
"This place is really haunted? Cool." said Fred. "Oh for crying out loud. Not you too." groaned Chris. "Whatever." said a bored Pietro, zipping away. Wanda left as well along with Kine.
"You know what this means right?" asked John. "You're all idiots." quipped Chris. "No, we're going ghost hunting." said John. Toad and Fred cheered while Chris moaned. "Great. A bunch of hyperactive teenagers with superhuman abilities searching for invisible spirits in a big house. This has to be the biggest recipe for disaster I've ever seen." he added.
"I cannot believe you convinced me to do this." groaned Chris behind the camera, recording John, Toad, and Blob all dressed like the Ghostbusters. They had vacuum backpacks on except Toad who had a strange weapon-shaped device.
"G'day internet bloggers. We here at the Brotherhood believe we are living in a home haunted by a ghost. Is this a spectral be a former tenant of this old house? Somebody would suffered such a terrible event that they are unable to advance into what comes next." said John. "That has got to be the cheesiest speech I've ever head." moaned Chris. "Hey, you're job is to watch and record. So do your job and zip lit little man." said Fred. Chris muttered something that will no doubt be edited out in post production. Now it was Toad's turn to talk. "While my two colleagues will be using vacuums to capture the ghost, I will be using this nifty gizmo I bought on EBay."
"Just what exactly is that thing anyways?" asked Chris. "Ladies and gentleman, I give you the EM Scrambler. You see since ghosts are made up of electromagnetic energy, we use this to weaken them so my buddies can use the vacuums to suck it's weakened form." said Toad. "You're going to use vacuums to capture and entrap a noncorporeal entity capable of going through walls? Yeah, I see the logic in that or lack of in this case." quipped Chris. "Hey, you don't get a voice in this argument. You're just the cameraman, we're the stars mate." snapped John.
"Yeah, I can already pictures the credits before this disaster starts. How Not To Go Ghost Hunting starring three idiots that think they're ghost hunters and…wait a minute, Toad how the heck did you get an EM Scrambler? I mean I saw that thing on Future Weapons once." said Chris.
"I told you, on EBay. I could have gotten this with a discount if I bought a Russian MiG fighter along with it." replied Toad. "Well folks, hopefully my friends will find this ghost before the ATF busts down our door." groaned Chris. "Why would they do that? We have second Amendment rights." added Fred as the three walked down the hallway, Chris following and recording them. "Yeah Freddy but that doesn't mean I can go and buy a missile launcher." said Chris. "You didn't seem too eager to keep any of the ones that Deadpool guy left behind during Christmas." pointed out Fred. "Quit the chatter you two. I think I hear something up ahead." said John.
The three creep slowly up to a room where movement could be heard inside. "Uh guys…" said a worried Chris. "No time to talk mate. Toad, bust in and get 'em." said John. Chris turned and bolted down the hall. The sound of the door getting kicked in along with screaming echoed past him. "Uhh, hi sweetums." said a scared Toad. That was accompanied by a series of screams and explosions.
The camera cuts to John, Toad, and Fred all sitting in the kitchen with various bruises and bandages on them. "And the morale of this story folks is to never break into Wanda's room." said Chris. "You could have warned us." groaned John. "I figured you guys deserve whatever comes to you if you can't remember where Wanda's room is." replied John. "This place is so big, it's get confusing sometimes." said Fred. "Never mind that. There's still a ghost out there and we're going to take it out." said John. "Yeah." agreed Toad and Fred. They gathered their equipment and marched off. "And we're off to the next disaster." chuckled Chris, following them.
They head to the basement, something even Wanda's hasn't done. Everybody found it to be too creepy. The lighting was screwed up so the guys had to use flashlights to see anything. "We should have gone down here first. If I were a ghost, this is where I'd be hiding yo." said Toad.
"Wait! I think I saw something over there." said John, pointing his flashlight towards a doorway. "Quick Toad, use that gizmo of yours." said Fred. Toad pulled the trigger and seemingly nothing happened. "Can you get a refund for that thing?" asked Chris. "Hey, what's wrong with the TV?" yelled Pietro one story above them.
"No time to wait. Quick, let's get him." said John. Pyro and Blob busted into the room and found something move, a bat. "Well…you were right about seeing something." pointed out Fred. John growled and turned on his vacuum. "Come here ya flying rodent." said John, trying to suck the bat up with his vac pack. Fred thought it looked fun and decided to do the same.
The two laughed as they chased the poor animal around the room while Toad and Chris watched the whole thing in disbelief. "What are you guys doing?" asked Chris. The laughing mutants ignored him and chased the bat into darkness. A moment later, they came running back screaming. "Run! That fella's got reinforcements!" yelled John. Suddenly, dozens of bats came chasing after them.
The camera cuts to them everyone back in the kitchen with even more bandages on them. "Well now that you've all gotten your rabies shots, care to keep ghost hunting? We could post this stuff online and call it Brotherhood Jackass." chuckled Chris. "Shut up." grumbled John.
"That does it. I'm retiring from ghost hunting. It sucks." said Fred. "Same here. I don't care what you saw Toad, it's not worth getting swarmed by flying rodents and knowing what Wanda is like during her period." said John. The camera dims, the low power indicator lights up.
"What the…I replaced the batteries yesterday." Chris mumbled to himself. The camera then goes dark, powerless. "Ahh man." grumbled Chris. The lights in the room flicker The three ghost hunter wannabes continue arguing, unaware that behind them a shadow was moving along the wall. Chris squints, not quite sure he saw what he thought he did.
"But I swear guys, I saw a ghost." pleaded Toad. The shadow formed into a humanoid shape, Chris's eyes widened. "Uhh…guys." stuttered Terrance. "Well then you go looking for it because it clearly doesn't want us to find it." said John. The shadow moved off the wall, taking a 3 dimensional shape. "Guys." gulped Chris. "What?" asked a frustrated John. Chris responded by pointing behind them. The three turned around to see the shadow figure advancing towards them. "AHHHHHHHHHH!" all four mutants screamed and ran out of the room.
"What was that?" yelled Chris. "I told you there was a ghost." shot back Toad. The being walks through the wall, the four mutants all gasp. Streaks of electricity inside it's figure all form into two energy spheres. Bolts of electricity shot out, nearly blasting the hood members.
"Run!" yelled Fred as everybody screamed and took off running. The commotion quickly attracts Kine, Pietro, and Wanda who nearly get run over in the process. "What is going on here?" demanded Wanda. The four mutants point down the hallway where the shadow was catching up to them.
"What is that thing?" asked Kine. Wanda throws a hex bolt at it, the shadow disintegrating upon impact. "Well that wasn't such a big deal." quipped Pietro. The shadow reappeared in the same spot it vanished, continuing it's advance. Wanda sent another hex bolt. It vanished but reappeared again, this time faster.
The being fired two bolts of electricity, both sent harmlessly away from anyone thanks to Wanda's hex powers. The shadow wasn't phased in the slightest, not slowing down towards it's targets. Wanda used her powers to hurl a nearby shelf and table at it, both passing harmlessly through it's body. "Uhh guys. I could use some ideas here." said Wanda, getting a little worried. Chris sent out psy static but it had no effect. Kine tried using his powers but they had the same result. "What do we do?" cringed Toad. "The most sensible thing to do in a situation like this. RETREAT!" yelled Pietro, dashing away. The rest of the hood all quickly followed him out of the front door and to their car parked out front. The Hood all quickly crammed themselves in and drove off as the shadow walked through the front door.
The Hood all breathed in a sigh of relief after turning onto a main road, though their vehicle wasn't designed to hold that many people.
"Okay, I realize I just witnessed something but could somebody please tell me what that was." said Kine. "Casper ain't friendly that's what. Oww, watch the elbow Chris." said John. "I can't help it. Blob is taking up 95 percent of the car." groaned Chris. "Ahh, who touched my butt?" screamed Toad. "Believe me that wasn't intentional. I don't have any room." grumbled Wanda. "Oh well, that's okay sweetums." smiled Toad. Wanda muttered something about disembowelment underneath her breath.
"Okay, we need a plan. Maybe call an exorcist or something." said Pietro who was driving. "No, take us to City Hall. There's bound to be records there." said Kine. "Records of what?" asked Fred. "I don't know but maybe we can find some clue as to what that was." answered Kine.
Xavier sat in Cerebro going over his latest city scan. There indeed was a new mutant signature in the area but its signal was erratic. Cerebro couldn't determine whether the mutant was on the other side of town or right next to him. Either way, Charles decided not to act on anything just yet. It was a night off for all of his students, most of them going to some rock concert. He'll tell them all about it later.
Rogue instantly regretted coming to the concert. The thunderous applause and cheers of the audience coupled with the loud music from the boom boxes onstage made her headache even worse. Let me out. That thought was now starting to become a voice that drowned out everything else. Let me out it repeated itself over and over again. She knew a bunch of her teammates were here as well. Scott and Jean were together "as friends" while Kurt was going with Amanda. Kitty took Jamie with her only because he was the only one who wanted to go. The others teased her earlier that she had a date. And Tabitha was in the front row, cheering louder then anybody else.
"I think this was a mistake Risty. I don't do well in crowds and can barely move right now." moaned Rogue, her headache now reaching an all time high. "Relax, you're covered up enough." said Risty. But that didn't make her feel any better. "I need to get out of here." said Rogue.
She turned to try and push her way through the crowd when someone tripped, grabbed her arm as he fell. He ended up ripping off her entire right arm covering. Somebody else bumped into her, instantly getting absorbed by Rogue then dropping to the ground. Rogue stumbled back and accidentally hit someone else, absorbing her lifeforce. Then Rogue got shoved right into Risty, draining her now. Rogue's mind felt like it was exploding. All these thoughts and images, memories that she couldn't figure out what were her's and what were somebody else's. Then came the shocking realization that her best friend, the one person she could talk to about anything was Mystique. That was all it needed to finally break free.
Finally, Marie was free at last. No longer buried within the confines of Rogue's subconscious. No longer a silent observer who watched everything and couldn't lift a finger to change anything. All of that was gone. Now Rogue was the one shut away from the world. Better she stay there, this world was filled with nothing but betrayal anyways. Marie was the only one who loved Rogue in this world, the only one who truly cared.
She shoved Mystique away from her and glanced up at the stage. "This band sucks." she said. With a thought, she summoned a magnetic field that brought the lights above the stage to come crashing down. Nearby, Jean used her powers to stop them in mid-air while the band quickly ran for cover. That arrogant red head always made things worse for Rogue, taking Scott's attention from her. Marie summoned a whirlwind above Jean and sucked up her into the air. The audience was now kicking and screaming towards the exits.
"Rogue." groaned Mystique. "She's not here right now but she does have a message for you." said Marie. She stomped her foot into the ground, creating a seismic tremor that hurled Mystique away. Marie turned around to notice Kitty and Jamie running up to her.
"Is that Mystique?" asked Kitty. Marie ignored her question, focusing her attention on Jamie. He had a power she didn't have. Not anymore. Marie's hand shot out and grabbed Jamie on the forehead. He gasped and was drained in seconds. "What are you doing?" yelled Kitty. Marie sent her flying away with a telekinesis.
She then noticed Scott, Kurt, Tabitha, and Amanda were helping a fallen Jean. The tramp escaped the cyclone but not without expending all her strength. Marie wasn't interested in her or anybody else except Tabitha. Another power she didn't have. Marie used Quicksilver's speed to zip up right next to the blondie and grab her face. Another set of memories along with a new power.
"Rogue are you out of your mind?" yelled Scott. "Yes she is out right now. Thanks to all of you." replied Marie. She fired an optic blast from her eyes, sending Scott flying. Kurt grabbed her from behind, trying to restrain her. "Stop it Rogue. This isn't you." he pleaded. He suddenly fell forward right through, Marie using Kitty's phasing powers. She then grabbed him and lifted Nightcrawler up like a bag of rice before hurling him all the way up to the top of the arena. Kurt managed to grab onto some lights on the ceiling. Marie glanced over at a terrified Amanda. "You're not even worth mah time." Marie said before teleporting away.
Kurt teleported back down. "Are you alright?" he asked Amanda. She nodded her head. "What happened?" groaned Jean, regaining consciousness. "Rogue just went psycho on us that's what." said Kitty, helping a weakened Jamie. "And somehow she was using my powers without touching me." groaned Scott. "Yah, she was using phasing, teleportation, weather control, when can she suddenly do that?" asked Kurt. "Maybe Mystique had something to do with it." said Kitty.
"Mystique was here? We better call the professor." said Jean.
"You sure about this Vanessa. The boss is going to be in one of his moods if he finds out you're out fighting X-Men without his permission." said Scalphunter. The Marauders were all sitting in a van with Vanessa, waiting for her to decide.
None of them would have ever guessed that she would become one of them. The boss said it had to do with a little mind manipulation and Stockholm syndrome. Spending years with the Marauders changed the way she acted around them. Over time, she started bonding with them and now she was a willing member. The few telepathy sessions Sinister were barely needed to get her cooperation.
"Yeah I want to do this guys. They need to pay for what they did to all of you." replied Vanessa. "Give 'em hell girl." said Vertigo. Vanessa leaned towards Arclight and kissed him on the cheek. "Just sit back and watch. You can all take the credit once we deliver the bodies of Xavier and all of his girl scouts." smiled Vanessa.
(Wow a lot happened this chapter. Normally I hate using so many characters in one chapter but I really liked it this time. Next chapter, Rogue's new personality Marie in on a rampage and the X-Men has to stop her and an enhanced Vanessa as well. The Brotherhood won't be much help to them since they are being stalked by that ghost like figure. Ciao.)
