Disclaimer's: Do we really have to keep doing this? By now, I'm sure all of you are dying for me to get to "The End Of The World," so here you go. The first chapter that will have a tad of violence... I think.

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The mansion split in 2. Well, at least, that's what it sounded like. Rogue screamed and was terrified to realize that she couldn't hear herself. At first, she thought she'd gone deaf, but then realized that it was just the aftershock.

When her ears cleared, she realized Logan was screaming at her. She had fallen out of bed when the shock wave had hit. Her first thought was 'I'm alive' and the second one was 'Logan is, too' and the third was 'What about the others?' and then, 'What about the baby?'. Fortunately, she could hear the others yelling, too. That just left the baby. She didn't feel any different, though. That was a good sign.

"Rogue, answer me!" came Logan's voice.

Oops. She had been so lost in thought that she had forgotten about Logan screaming for her, "I'm OK."

He rolled off the bed and sat on the floor next to her, "Thank God. I was worried."

"I'm fine," Rogue insisted, "And I'm pretty sure the baby is, too. Shouldn't we check on the others?"

Logan helped pull her to her feet and they ran out to the hallway. The others were standing in a daze.

"There you are!" Jean said, "You were the only 2 not here. We were just headed for your room."

"What happened?" Nikki asked.

"Earthquake," Scott said, "And a damn big 1, too."

"Yeah," Gambit said, "We don't get earthquakes like that in New York."

"I guess the effects of the Apocalypse are starting to effect us, too," Jubilee said.

RUMBLE!!!

Everyone fell down again as another shock wave hit them. Logan caught Rogue as she started to go down. Having metal bones made you a bit more sturdy.

The others picked themselves up, only to fall down again. The Professor's wheelchair was on its side and Beast was trying to stand it back up.

"What's happening?" Nikki asked.

No one could tell her. They were all wondering the same question. Another shock wave hit them. Even with Logan holding her up, Rogue felt her knees give out and she started to slump to the floor.

"Damn it!" Wolverine said, getting a better grip on her.

RUMBLE!!

"Daddy, what's happening?" Nikki cried.

"I don' know, angel," Gambit said, "Maybe it be over soon."

"Or maybe it's just beginning," Rogue whispered, but no one could hear her over the commotion. Maybe that was best...

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"What do we do now?" Jubilee asked.

They were all gathered in the Danger Room, the only room that wasn't covered in debris.

"Stay here," Jean said, "This is a reinforced steel room. It will take a lot to get through here."

"We obviously can't fight off earthquakes," Beast said, "Nikki, have you had no more premonitions?"

"No," Nikki said miserably.

"Don't feel bad," The Professor said, "You can't control them. We'll figure out what to do."

"As I said," Beast repeated, "We can't fight off earthquakes. The best thing we could do would be stay put until the danger passes, or..." His voice trailed off.

"Or," Rogue said, "Until we die."

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"How long have we been in here?" Nikki asked.

The guys all started fumbling to try to look at their watches, "About 2 hours," Scott said, "Why?"

"Just wondering," she said, "It's.... crowded in here."

"You claustrophobic?" Jubilee asked.

"A little."

"So was your Mom," Jean said.

"I know," Nikki said. She curled her knees up to her chin, "I wish she were here." She suddenly looked very young, "I don't want to... die without seeing her again. Maybe she's already dead."

No one spoke until Gambit said, "So when do we start telling the ghost stories?"

Everyone looked at him.

"Come on!" he said, "Every good slumber party has ghost stories! Then we do each others hair and make-up, no?"

Jean, who was closest, smacked him.

"What?" he asked, "What did I do?"

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" I can't take this anymore!" Rogue said.

Everyone looked at her and Logan said calmly, "Well, what do you propose we do to pass the time, darlin'? Have a staring contest?"

"No," she said, "But please. let's do something. Talk, sing, start a chorus line, anything! I hate having nothing to do."

"We've been talking," Jean pointed out.

"Well, yeah, about death and destruction," Rogue said, "Maybe we should tell a ghost story." She got up and started pacing the room.

After about 5 minutes, Logan said, "You're making me dizzy, darlin'. Why don't you sit down?"

"I don't want to," Rogue said, "I'm tired of sitting-"

RUMBLE!!!

The shaking wasn't quite as bad in the Danger Room, but it was still bad enough. Logan dove across the floor and caught Rogue as she went flying.

"Now, I think you'd better sit," he said. Rogue obeyed.

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"The sun should be out," Nikki said.

"So?" Jubilee said.

"And we haven't had a quake in 20 minutes," Nikki said.

"So?" Jubilee said again.

"Well, maybe we should at least look out a window and see if there's anything left," Nikki said.

"That's a good idea," Scott said, "Will the A Team please assemble and head-"

"Uh-uh," Nikki said, "None of that A Team, B Team crap. I want to see, too."

"Fine," Cyclops said.

Everyone cautiously exited the Danger Room and headed for the front door which was amazingly still intact.

"I thought we were just going to look out the window," Jubilee said.

"A doorway is one of the safest places to be in an earthquake," Jean said, "Don't worry."

Scott opened the front door. Nothing looked disturbed. No trees were uprooted or anything. It was only the area surrounding the mansion that had been affected.

"That's not possible," Beast said.

"What are those?" Nikki asked. There were black scorch marks all around the mansion.

"Where did those come from?" Jean asked, "There couldn't have been a fire without us knowing it. We would've seen it last night, wouldn't we have?"

"Maybe those marks are from what caused the earthquake," Nikki said.

"It wasn't an earthquake," Wolverine said, "It was just someone shaking the building. On purpose."

"Are they still here?" Nikki asked.

"Don't know," Wolverine said, "All I smell is burning."

"But there wasn't a fire!" Jean said.

"It was lightning," Rogue said, "Lightning was hitting the ground and causing tremors."

"But how could lightning hit only by the mansion?" Beast asked.

"Oh, God," Rogue said.

"What?" Cyclops said.

"What mutant do we know of that can throw lightning," Rogue asked. She felt numb.

"No," Gambit said.

"I hope I'm wrong," Rogue said.

Nikki caught on, "Mommy wouldn't!"

"Oh, but Mommy would," A new voice came from above their heads. Storm floated down to the ground, "Hello, everyone. Did you miss me?"

"Stormy," Gambit said.

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Did you guys guess that was going to happen? I tried not to give you too many clues, but I had to say a few things to lead up to this. I hope you like the twist. You'll find out the reasons behind this in the next chapter. I'd say we've got maybe 4 more chapters to go before the end. Stay tuned!