LAST CHAPTER!!!! ^_^ I hope y'all like!
Rated PG-13 for…
Usual cursing and such
Disclaimer…
I own nothing of the X-Evo or X-Men caliber.
*: From the mind
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1 The Marionette
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He got a hold of her arm as they were falling. They were too far away to continue the people chain off Bishop, not to mention the red portal floating in that direction. All he knew what to do at the moment was hold Rogue in his arms. Rogue held onto him tightly as they were falling quickly. "What are we going to do?"
Morph grunted. "Hold on, you two!" He shifted into Spyke, shot a spike for Remy to hold onto and then shot several to the opposite wall. Quickly, Remy grabbed one and began climbing up, Rogue hanging onto his back. Morph kept of shooting spikes until they reached the ground level where Bantam was. Rogue frowned. "How are we gonna get THEM up?"
Morph smiled. "Don't you worry! Just watch!"
He lifted up one arm and shot spikes upward. He began climbing, Betsy on his back, Pietro, Kitty, and Bishop holding on, and when the right level came, they held onto a spike and made their way up. Bantam stood with his arms crossed, but when Bishop got to ground level, he clutched the short yellow-skinned man around the neck. "Your boss tried to kill us AGAIN! WHAT are YOU going to do or say to keep me from killing YOU?"
Bantam narrowed his eyes and coughed in discomfort, and Bishop's grip being too tight. Remy growled and grabbed Bishop's arm. "What will killin' de shrimp do? Bring your sister back?"
Bishop looked away and released Bantam from his clutches. The yellow one fell to the ground gasping for air. He looked up at Bishop. "Don't you think I lost something too? Trevor was my partner!"
Pietro looked at the light. "This is lovely and all, but I think we better get a move on." He spoke. Betsy regained consciousness, and they began walking. Bantam continued looking down at the red portal. Kitty blinked. "Coming?"
He was silent. "… Chronomancer would've wanted me to continue our ideal." He followed.
Betsy stopped as she looked at a building. "Wow… that's strange."
Kitty tilted her head. "What is it?"
"I got a weird vibe."
Rogue nodded. "I know what you mean."
The group slowly walked towards the door, but soon Emma appeared. Rogue narrowed her eyes. The only thing heard was the wind rushing against the grass.
Emma looked at the girl with bangs of white. *"I'm sorry that you all come so far just to fail. Trevor is dead. How do expect to beat me and leave?"*
Remy pulled out his cards. "We'll find a way."
She laughed and lifted her arm. *"What have I done with Vincent, you may wonder?"* A blue bubble appeared, a sleeping Vincent inside. Betsy gasped… but at least he was still alive. She took towards the one known as the White Queen…. Lady Frost… Emma. Betsy focused her energy making a psychic blade on her hand. She targeted her eyes to Emma. "Ready everyone?"
Kitty smiled. "YEAH! Let's do it!"
Pietro nodded. "Ready when you are."
Bishop drew out his gun. "Lets go."
Morph shifted to his normal state. "It all ends here."
Remy laughed a little. "Damn right it does."
Rogue was ready, and looked into Emma's eyes. She… she looked so lifeless, yet alive. Poor girl was alone… yes… Rogue knew all too well how it was like to be alone. To have no one to embrace. To hold. To touch. To feel. To know that everything would be alright…
Emma didn't know about true friendship, and true family. She was too young to understand anything other than the voices in her head. This was all where it came down to. This would be the end. The last, the final battle against Emma.
Betsy ran towards Emma. However, the White Queen's power was immense. Betsy knew this, but progressed closer and slashed with the psychic knife at the woman. Emma nimbly dodged and Bishop shot at her. Every laser shot seemed to go right through Emma, and she laughed. *"You are all fools! This is MY turf!"*
The floor began to go aflame. Rogue remembered this… when Emma attacked her. She was burnt. Flames. Flames in her mind. What did they mean? Was it a premonition? As quick as ever, Pietro charged the woman. As swift as he was, he was able to place some marks on her, but the burning from beneath him became almost unbearable. As everyone fought, Kitty ran to the blue bubble, trying to awaken the sleeping Vincent.
Soon the fire seemed to seep within the six remaining messenger's bodies. They all fell to the ground, becoming burnt and trying to hold onto whatever sanity they had. The pain was horrid, but the mental attacks that Emma was still able to pull were worse ten fold. Remy looked up. The question in his mind was where in the world were they? Where was Emma? How was it that is was so difficult to find her in the first place? Through all the flames he began to see…
The building… … it was a house of white. The house was on top of a hill, and nearby was a cliff. Rogue began to see this too. She began to remember the memories she gained from Emma after the first attack… it was the asylum Emma was sent to as a child. The flames… … what did they mean?
Emma read this in Rogue's mind and laughed. *"You want to know? The flames are like a dream. The flames tell you of a destruction. The flames show you MY pain that I felt. The pain that I will forever feel! The pain within my heart and soul."*
Bishop growled. "Do you even have one, you bitch? Look at yourself! You truly are insane! You're a monster!"
*"SILENCE!"* She psychically drove Bishop on to the ground. She frowned. *"You shall only speak when I say so. That, you'll learn when you are finally complete."* She pulled out a doll.
The environment changed after every second. More civilians appeared, which made the "messengers" pull back because they would probably hurt innocent people. This was definitely Emma's plan. She had them trapped. Kitty and Bantam were clueless on what to do… along with the other mutants.
The fire and fury reached the civilians. They screamed and pained. Betsy pounded her fist to the ground. "STOP IT!"
Pietro clenched his teeth. "If you guys are just gonna sit here… I guess I have to do something!" Pietro ran, but surprisingly all the flames remained. Morph shifted to Storm and called upon the wind, but even that did not stop the flames. Rogue grunted. "Don't you guys get it? The flames are from HER. If we beat HER, the flames will leave!"
"Easier said dan done, Girl."
Emma smiled. *"Its too hot for you? Let me cool it down!"*
The flames still stood, but an icy chill reached the six mutants. Rogue couldn't take this. Everyone was just trying to find a way around from hitting Emma. Rogue removed her glove and race towards the White Queen. Remy's eyes widened. "Rogue!!"
She kept on running and successfully touched Emma. Soon, Rogue's hand felt frost bitten. She didn't care, she held on. Emma smiled. *"You've come to me."* She grabbed Rogue's arm. Rogue fell weak, her whole body seemed to be consumed by ice. She fell to the ground. Remy began running, but Pietro ran in front. Remy stopped and looked at the silver-haired teenager in front of him.
"Get outta de way!"
"Gambit, there's no use in all of us running and going to an early death."
"But… Rogue…"
"I know, but just trust me on this. I think Rogue knows what she's doing."
"I t'ink so too… but dat doesn't guarantee dat she'd live."
"Just hold back until it seems necessary to go, ok?"
Remy hated to stay away, but he did. Rogue wouldn't just run to her death like that, would she? Augh… he had to contain himself, and pull him away from helping her.
Emma smiled deviously and bent down to Rogue. She remained with the doll in her hands and touched Rogue's ungloved hand. The object and the mutant both covered in a blue light. *"My messenger. My friend, Rogue. Be my friend."*
Remy couldn't hold back any longer. "Quicksilver, outta de way NOW."
"Hold on a bit longer…"
Remy growled low in his throat. "No. I'm not gonna jus' stand here!" He pushed Pietro aside and ran towards his enemy and the girl who stole his heart. Every step was heavier than the previous one, but he kept running.
Rogue flinched. Something entered her body. The light. Wait… … the light…? The vulnerable… Quickly, Rogue reacted and opened her eyes and soon discovered something from the woman attacking her. Emma stepped back. *"YOU DARE RESIST?!"* Rogue tried standing up, but only got to kneeling. She glared at Emma with cold eyes. Her eyes slowly closed and she penetrated within Emma's mind with her new absorbed power.
*"Emma, you're one too."*
*"WHAT? GET OUT! GET OUT!"* Emma held onto her head. She had never had someone absorb her power before… Rogue was in her mind.
*"Tell me the truth, Emma! ARE YOU ONE OF US?!"*
*"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"*
*"You know damn well! There is an eighth mutant! YOU are she!"*
*"Rogue, I am NOT a messenger! No! NO! I am NOT!"*
"Then what are you?" Rogue exited Emma's mind as the power drained from Rogue's possession. Remy appeared, and held Rogue in his arms, as the White Queen was not pleased and psychically attacked with a beam of light. Shielding Rogue, Remy took the blow.
Rogue's eyes widened. "REMY! Don't throw your life away, damn it!" After Remy was done yelling from the boundless pain on his side, he gave Rogue a smile of comfort. ""Girl…don' you ever listen? Wit'out you… I ain't got much o' a life." His eyes glazed and soon rolled back as he fell to the cold and yet burning ground. Rogue could feel her heart rip in two. "REMY!!!"
Emma walked away towards the other mutants. *"Good riddance to bad rubbish."*
Kitty looked at the blue bubble, and Vincent had awaken. "Get me out…" He whispered. Kitty nodded and looked at Betsy. "PSYLOCKE! Free Vince!"
Betsy looked at the blue bubble and focused. Soon the blue bubble became clear and disappeared. Emma stood with her head in her hands. She was confused and scared of what Rogue had just done, and it just hit her. Vincent knew this was the time to convince her of her humanity. He approached her. "Emma… …" He kneeled down and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Emma, you're human… … do you see that now?"
"I'm not…" Her eyes pierced into Vincent. Fury appeared in her eyes. "All humanity must die."
Minutes passed as the earth began to shake. Remy's eyes opened and he touched where he was skewered. It hurt, but he looked at an even more hurt face of Rogue.
"Chere…"
He held her in his arms, even as injured as he was. He brushed her bangs from her face. They looked in each other's eyes, getting lost and finding one another. He smiled and laughed gently. "You alright?"
"'Course I am… are you?" She paused. Everything seemed so calm, although chaos surrounded the two…. Rogue couldn't help but feel safe in his arms… and he was laughing. It just comforted her… especially with the turmoil and confusion.
Emma screamed in anger and pain. The flames grew more intense and more vicious.
Rogue appeared broken. Her eyes began to moist with tears. "I tried, Remy… I really did."
"Chere… it's alright." He wiped the tears from her eyes, which only made her cry more. He looked sympathetic, and touched the side of her face; tilting her head up. She knew what was going to happen next… it was like her dream. "Remy… I'm sorry… I'll hurt you."
"I know you know dis as well as me. Dis is our last chance."
She just looked at him… what was she afraid of?
Her lips slowly met with his. They kissed. The flames around them burned, Remy's body grew weak. Absorbing. He didn't care. He went on, and embraced her, accepting the fact that this was it. He wasn't going to have another chance. Rogue knew it was hurting him… but for the most part he was ready for it. He wanted it as bad as she did… and Remy was right. This was it.
His lips slightly opened along with hers and his tongue entered her mouth, the tongue exploring. Rogue held tighter to him, her arms once again wrapped about his neck. Their lips burned in a sensation of pure passion, and in a pain that surrounded them.
~~ In the meantime ~~
Vincent held Emma's arm. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS!"
"Just watch!"
"Emma… you don't understand!"
Kitty growled. "It's not working Vince! Give up!"
He narrowed his eyes. "NO!"
Bishop clenched his teeth. "WHAT are you up to? Finish 'er, Golem!"
With the last word spoken, Emma held herself tightly as thousands of light knives appeared from her and began to attack her enemies. Pietro dodged with relative ease, and Betsy hit off one of the blades with a psychic bubble of her own. The deflected blade went towards Emma and Vincent. It cut through Emma's left arm along with the left arm of a certain muscular mutant grasping onto her. Betsy fell to the ground, extremely tired.
Kitty gasped and tried running to her friend, but quickly Bantam grabbed Kitty's arm. "Hold on… … it'll be alright. Your friend isn't THAT badly injured."
Emma fell to her knees, holding her wounded arm, Vincent following. "S-See…?" Vincent smiled childishly, but became serious as he reached and touched Emma's dripping blood. "You bleed." He touched his wound and showed her HIS blood. "So do I…"
Emma growled low in her throat and pushed Golem away like a little girl in fear. "Animals bleed too." She muttered. The fire became more intense.
"I feel pain, Emma… I feel pain, Lady Frost…"
She blinked. "You're thinking."
"So is everyone."
"I felt pain for a long time."
"Everyone too."
"You humans caused me to pain! To bleed! Gol-"
"A human caused ME to pain… caused ME to bleed. That human was YOU."
Emma stopped… her face appeared to be tinted blue from fear. All these years… in pain. Suffering… … she forgot that in the house of white and the room of padded walls, there were others with her pain as she experienced. THEY were human. THEY were insane humans, but human nonetheless. Then she thought about her mother. Her dear mother trying to protect her... she thought those memories were long gone… but it was true. She was human. She fell to the ground, shaking, holding onto her head tightly, and tears falling from her eyes to the ground.
"Vincent… what have I done…?"
Pietro blinked, noticing that Emma had stopped throwing psychic blades, and the flame dimmed. It was silent… soon all the fire disappeared… … Kitty gasped and ran to Vincent and Emma. They had collapsed.
Remy looked over. "It… stopped…"
Rogue had not forgotten that the man that was holding her was hurt… also she had just kissed him… he had fallen to the ground as well.
It was silent.
The environment was complete, and the sound of ambulances came. Morph blinked. "What's going on?"
Pietro looked around them. People. Injured people. They were still on a hill with an asylum on top, but on the bottom was a city. The ambulance came and picked up Emma, Vincent, and Remy. The mutants followed, with an exception of a disappeared Bantam and Bishop.
"Are you family?"
Rogue was already so angry she was about to punch the nurse's lights out. Morph shifted to an old man. "They are my grandchildren, ma'am. I also insist on the others to come with me…?" Pietro scoffed. "That's ok, I'll wait for you guys here." Betsy nodded. "I'll stay too."
The nurse shook her head. "Unless the others are family…"
Kitty smiled. "I'm Remy's little sister."
Rogue closed her eyes. "Cousin of Vincent."
The nurse rose an eyebrow… she wasn't buying it… but did it really matter? She shrugged. "Fine. Come on in."
Emma and Vincent were on life support, and strangely, Remy was in better shape than they were. The nurse left the mutants in the room, and Morph shifted into Hank McCoy. "The boy has quite a will to live."
Rogue sighed. "Real funny, Morph."
The "old man" groaned. "I was only trying to lighten the mood."
Kitty looked at Remy. "What happened?"
Rogue blushed and looked away, staying silent. Remy gently moved his arm. Kitty jumped up and down in joy. "Yay! Remy! You're alright!"
He smiled softly and looked over at the blushing Rogue. "Did someone embarrass you when I wasn't here, Chere?"
She seemed to blush even brighter. "Jerk."
Kitty ran to Emma and Vincent. She sat down forlornly. "Poor Vince…"
Emma began to make a sound… a doll appeared in her hands. Kitty blinked and looked at the doll… it… it looked like her…? Kitty didn't know what to think. Rogue looked at Emma's bed. "Emma was also one of us… there were eight mutants… not seven. She… Emma Frost… is a puppet to her own dark thoughts and dark spirit… to her own soul. There was light there, though… Vincent just had to show it to her."
Kitty blinked. "What are you saying?"
Remy closed his eyes, overhearing this. "Emma was a marionette… a puppet, jus' like Vincent. He needed her an' she needed him."
Morph couldn't believe his eyes… but Vincent and Emma seemed to be de- aging… "What's happening now?"
Rogue observed… and knew what it was from Emma's thoughts when she had absorbed her power. "Vincent and Emma's innocence was broken. Emma, at an early age, and Vincent just recently. Emma's light energy and soul is giving her shadow soul another chance…along with Vincent."
"Vincent's shadow soul?"
"Vincent wasn't always pure of heart, you know."
Kitty smiled. "So… are they going to live?"
Rogue nodded. "Most likely… unless the wounds are too fatal. If they DO revive, they'll just be kids."
"Merry Christmas, Rogue." Kurt smiled happily and handed her a bouquet of yarrows. She rolled her eyes. "Thanks." The elf put his hands in his pockets. "So… where's Kitty?"
"Giving presents to Vince. The little guy's so excited."
He leaned against the wall. "What about Emma? Where is she?"
"Emma is with the Professor. He thought it'd be best for her to stay with him for a while."
"Rogue!" Betsy ran to her and sighed. Rogue frowned, knowing this day would come. Morph and Bishop accompanied Betsy. "You're leaving already?" Rogue muttered.
Betsy nodded. "Yeah… I have to go back home in London. Bishop needs to clean things up at home…" She looked at Morph. "Where are YOU going?"
Morph scoffed. "I'm going somewhere? Not likely. I have things to catch up with the 'ol wild man." He gave Betsy a small hug. "'Till next time." He patted Bishop's shoulder and walked away.
Betsy gave Rogue a hug and smiled.
"Say hi to Angel for me, Bets."
The purple-haired girl winked. "You got it."
Bishop kicked the ground and looked up at Rogue. "I hope to see you later. Take care of yourself."
She smiled. "You too."
They all left, and Rogue sat there alone in the corner of the room. Scott sat down next to her. "You alright?"
"Yeah… just… gonna miss them all."
He smiled. "Think of it this way… there's always the summer."
Rogue grunted. "Don't even joke about that." She leaned back on the chair she sat on. "I was hopin' Remy would be back to full health and spend Christmas with me."
Scott handed her a box. "Here… this is for you. Merry Christmas." He smiled and stood up. "I'm gonna go talk to Jean now, alright?"
Rogue nodded. "Sure."
Quickly, Rogue opened the box and there a mistletoe was. Mistletoe… hmph. What good was that? Suddenly, a hand reached for it and held it above her head. She looked to whom the hand belonged to, and saw the Cajun man. He smiled. "Miss me?"
She laughed. "How can I miss you if you never go away?"
He held her hand, a smirk on his face. "Admit it… you missed me."
"Alright, alright… I missed you."
He leaned his forehead against hers. "Good." He leaned over and kissed her nose. "Wish I could really kiss ya, Chere… but… anot'er kiss after de one we had, and I'll be a goner."
She smiled. "I understand."
He sat down, and put his arm around her. "So… what're we going t' do now?"
"I dunno…" She knew darn well… they had to catch up on everything they missed in school.
Young Vincent ran to Rogue and Remy in a hurry. The boy laughed and smiled. "Rogue! Remy! Guess what I got?"
Remy laughed. "What?"
Vincent pulled out a tiny doll in his hands. "Emma gave it to me!"
Rogue looked at the doll… on it; Golem was on its forehead with fine black stitched letters. The note attached read:
To: Golem
From: The Marionette
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That's it!!! For those that MAY be confused…I have explanations to several things here:
Why did Emma need Rogue? It was basically Emma's light side, the good part of her soul that wanted Rogue's help. Emma needed people to truly understand her… and those people were Vincent and Rogue. You dig?
That is one question I asked myself when making this, and if it was yours when you finished reading this, you now know! Fancy that! ~_^
Ok, the MAJOR question is whether to make a sequel or not? I'm starting to develop my writing skills, so my story may be a lot better and I will add Rogue's accent (I was gonna in the beginning of THIS story, but I wasn't sure… cuz in X-Evo, she sounds pretty normal to me… maybe I just don't notice accents unless they're written ^_^;;;) I dunno, the vote goes to the reviewers, I guess. :D Oh! And I WILL get pics up. It'll be in a story called Marionette Pics, and I'll write URLS on where the pics will be.
WELL… PEACE OUT Y'ALL!!!
~Brakish~
Rated PG-13 for…
Usual cursing and such
Disclaimer…
I own nothing of the X-Evo or X-Men caliber.
*: From the mind
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1 The Marionette
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He got a hold of her arm as they were falling. They were too far away to continue the people chain off Bishop, not to mention the red portal floating in that direction. All he knew what to do at the moment was hold Rogue in his arms. Rogue held onto him tightly as they were falling quickly. "What are we going to do?"
Morph grunted. "Hold on, you two!" He shifted into Spyke, shot a spike for Remy to hold onto and then shot several to the opposite wall. Quickly, Remy grabbed one and began climbing up, Rogue hanging onto his back. Morph kept of shooting spikes until they reached the ground level where Bantam was. Rogue frowned. "How are we gonna get THEM up?"
Morph smiled. "Don't you worry! Just watch!"
He lifted up one arm and shot spikes upward. He began climbing, Betsy on his back, Pietro, Kitty, and Bishop holding on, and when the right level came, they held onto a spike and made their way up. Bantam stood with his arms crossed, but when Bishop got to ground level, he clutched the short yellow-skinned man around the neck. "Your boss tried to kill us AGAIN! WHAT are YOU going to do or say to keep me from killing YOU?"
Bantam narrowed his eyes and coughed in discomfort, and Bishop's grip being too tight. Remy growled and grabbed Bishop's arm. "What will killin' de shrimp do? Bring your sister back?"
Bishop looked away and released Bantam from his clutches. The yellow one fell to the ground gasping for air. He looked up at Bishop. "Don't you think I lost something too? Trevor was my partner!"
Pietro looked at the light. "This is lovely and all, but I think we better get a move on." He spoke. Betsy regained consciousness, and they began walking. Bantam continued looking down at the red portal. Kitty blinked. "Coming?"
He was silent. "… Chronomancer would've wanted me to continue our ideal." He followed.
Betsy stopped as she looked at a building. "Wow… that's strange."
Kitty tilted her head. "What is it?"
"I got a weird vibe."
Rogue nodded. "I know what you mean."
The group slowly walked towards the door, but soon Emma appeared. Rogue narrowed her eyes. The only thing heard was the wind rushing against the grass.
Emma looked at the girl with bangs of white. *"I'm sorry that you all come so far just to fail. Trevor is dead. How do expect to beat me and leave?"*
Remy pulled out his cards. "We'll find a way."
She laughed and lifted her arm. *"What have I done with Vincent, you may wonder?"* A blue bubble appeared, a sleeping Vincent inside. Betsy gasped… but at least he was still alive. She took towards the one known as the White Queen…. Lady Frost… Emma. Betsy focused her energy making a psychic blade on her hand. She targeted her eyes to Emma. "Ready everyone?"
Kitty smiled. "YEAH! Let's do it!"
Pietro nodded. "Ready when you are."
Bishop drew out his gun. "Lets go."
Morph shifted to his normal state. "It all ends here."
Remy laughed a little. "Damn right it does."
Rogue was ready, and looked into Emma's eyes. She… she looked so lifeless, yet alive. Poor girl was alone… yes… Rogue knew all too well how it was like to be alone. To have no one to embrace. To hold. To touch. To feel. To know that everything would be alright…
Emma didn't know about true friendship, and true family. She was too young to understand anything other than the voices in her head. This was all where it came down to. This would be the end. The last, the final battle against Emma.
Betsy ran towards Emma. However, the White Queen's power was immense. Betsy knew this, but progressed closer and slashed with the psychic knife at the woman. Emma nimbly dodged and Bishop shot at her. Every laser shot seemed to go right through Emma, and she laughed. *"You are all fools! This is MY turf!"*
The floor began to go aflame. Rogue remembered this… when Emma attacked her. She was burnt. Flames. Flames in her mind. What did they mean? Was it a premonition? As quick as ever, Pietro charged the woman. As swift as he was, he was able to place some marks on her, but the burning from beneath him became almost unbearable. As everyone fought, Kitty ran to the blue bubble, trying to awaken the sleeping Vincent.
Soon the fire seemed to seep within the six remaining messenger's bodies. They all fell to the ground, becoming burnt and trying to hold onto whatever sanity they had. The pain was horrid, but the mental attacks that Emma was still able to pull were worse ten fold. Remy looked up. The question in his mind was where in the world were they? Where was Emma? How was it that is was so difficult to find her in the first place? Through all the flames he began to see…
The building… … it was a house of white. The house was on top of a hill, and nearby was a cliff. Rogue began to see this too. She began to remember the memories she gained from Emma after the first attack… it was the asylum Emma was sent to as a child. The flames… … what did they mean?
Emma read this in Rogue's mind and laughed. *"You want to know? The flames are like a dream. The flames tell you of a destruction. The flames show you MY pain that I felt. The pain that I will forever feel! The pain within my heart and soul."*
Bishop growled. "Do you even have one, you bitch? Look at yourself! You truly are insane! You're a monster!"
*"SILENCE!"* She psychically drove Bishop on to the ground. She frowned. *"You shall only speak when I say so. That, you'll learn when you are finally complete."* She pulled out a doll.
The environment changed after every second. More civilians appeared, which made the "messengers" pull back because they would probably hurt innocent people. This was definitely Emma's plan. She had them trapped. Kitty and Bantam were clueless on what to do… along with the other mutants.
The fire and fury reached the civilians. They screamed and pained. Betsy pounded her fist to the ground. "STOP IT!"
Pietro clenched his teeth. "If you guys are just gonna sit here… I guess I have to do something!" Pietro ran, but surprisingly all the flames remained. Morph shifted to Storm and called upon the wind, but even that did not stop the flames. Rogue grunted. "Don't you guys get it? The flames are from HER. If we beat HER, the flames will leave!"
"Easier said dan done, Girl."
Emma smiled. *"Its too hot for you? Let me cool it down!"*
The flames still stood, but an icy chill reached the six mutants. Rogue couldn't take this. Everyone was just trying to find a way around from hitting Emma. Rogue removed her glove and race towards the White Queen. Remy's eyes widened. "Rogue!!"
She kept on running and successfully touched Emma. Soon, Rogue's hand felt frost bitten. She didn't care, she held on. Emma smiled. *"You've come to me."* She grabbed Rogue's arm. Rogue fell weak, her whole body seemed to be consumed by ice. She fell to the ground. Remy began running, but Pietro ran in front. Remy stopped and looked at the silver-haired teenager in front of him.
"Get outta de way!"
"Gambit, there's no use in all of us running and going to an early death."
"But… Rogue…"
"I know, but just trust me on this. I think Rogue knows what she's doing."
"I t'ink so too… but dat doesn't guarantee dat she'd live."
"Just hold back until it seems necessary to go, ok?"
Remy hated to stay away, but he did. Rogue wouldn't just run to her death like that, would she? Augh… he had to contain himself, and pull him away from helping her.
Emma smiled deviously and bent down to Rogue. She remained with the doll in her hands and touched Rogue's ungloved hand. The object and the mutant both covered in a blue light. *"My messenger. My friend, Rogue. Be my friend."*
Remy couldn't hold back any longer. "Quicksilver, outta de way NOW."
"Hold on a bit longer…"
Remy growled low in his throat. "No. I'm not gonna jus' stand here!" He pushed Pietro aside and ran towards his enemy and the girl who stole his heart. Every step was heavier than the previous one, but he kept running.
Rogue flinched. Something entered her body. The light. Wait… … the light…? The vulnerable… Quickly, Rogue reacted and opened her eyes and soon discovered something from the woman attacking her. Emma stepped back. *"YOU DARE RESIST?!"* Rogue tried standing up, but only got to kneeling. She glared at Emma with cold eyes. Her eyes slowly closed and she penetrated within Emma's mind with her new absorbed power.
*"Emma, you're one too."*
*"WHAT? GET OUT! GET OUT!"* Emma held onto her head. She had never had someone absorb her power before… Rogue was in her mind.
*"Tell me the truth, Emma! ARE YOU ONE OF US?!"*
*"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"*
*"You know damn well! There is an eighth mutant! YOU are she!"*
*"Rogue, I am NOT a messenger! No! NO! I am NOT!"*
"Then what are you?" Rogue exited Emma's mind as the power drained from Rogue's possession. Remy appeared, and held Rogue in his arms, as the White Queen was not pleased and psychically attacked with a beam of light. Shielding Rogue, Remy took the blow.
Rogue's eyes widened. "REMY! Don't throw your life away, damn it!" After Remy was done yelling from the boundless pain on his side, he gave Rogue a smile of comfort. ""Girl…don' you ever listen? Wit'out you… I ain't got much o' a life." His eyes glazed and soon rolled back as he fell to the cold and yet burning ground. Rogue could feel her heart rip in two. "REMY!!!"
Emma walked away towards the other mutants. *"Good riddance to bad rubbish."*
Kitty looked at the blue bubble, and Vincent had awaken. "Get me out…" He whispered. Kitty nodded and looked at Betsy. "PSYLOCKE! Free Vince!"
Betsy looked at the blue bubble and focused. Soon the blue bubble became clear and disappeared. Emma stood with her head in her hands. She was confused and scared of what Rogue had just done, and it just hit her. Vincent knew this was the time to convince her of her humanity. He approached her. "Emma… …" He kneeled down and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Emma, you're human… … do you see that now?"
"I'm not…" Her eyes pierced into Vincent. Fury appeared in her eyes. "All humanity must die."
Minutes passed as the earth began to shake. Remy's eyes opened and he touched where he was skewered. It hurt, but he looked at an even more hurt face of Rogue.
"Chere…"
He held her in his arms, even as injured as he was. He brushed her bangs from her face. They looked in each other's eyes, getting lost and finding one another. He smiled and laughed gently. "You alright?"
"'Course I am… are you?" She paused. Everything seemed so calm, although chaos surrounded the two…. Rogue couldn't help but feel safe in his arms… and he was laughing. It just comforted her… especially with the turmoil and confusion.
Emma screamed in anger and pain. The flames grew more intense and more vicious.
Rogue appeared broken. Her eyes began to moist with tears. "I tried, Remy… I really did."
"Chere… it's alright." He wiped the tears from her eyes, which only made her cry more. He looked sympathetic, and touched the side of her face; tilting her head up. She knew what was going to happen next… it was like her dream. "Remy… I'm sorry… I'll hurt you."
"I know you know dis as well as me. Dis is our last chance."
She just looked at him… what was she afraid of?
Her lips slowly met with his. They kissed. The flames around them burned, Remy's body grew weak. Absorbing. He didn't care. He went on, and embraced her, accepting the fact that this was it. He wasn't going to have another chance. Rogue knew it was hurting him… but for the most part he was ready for it. He wanted it as bad as she did… and Remy was right. This was it.
His lips slightly opened along with hers and his tongue entered her mouth, the tongue exploring. Rogue held tighter to him, her arms once again wrapped about his neck. Their lips burned in a sensation of pure passion, and in a pain that surrounded them.
~~ In the meantime ~~
Vincent held Emma's arm. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS!"
"Just watch!"
"Emma… you don't understand!"
Kitty growled. "It's not working Vince! Give up!"
He narrowed his eyes. "NO!"
Bishop clenched his teeth. "WHAT are you up to? Finish 'er, Golem!"
With the last word spoken, Emma held herself tightly as thousands of light knives appeared from her and began to attack her enemies. Pietro dodged with relative ease, and Betsy hit off one of the blades with a psychic bubble of her own. The deflected blade went towards Emma and Vincent. It cut through Emma's left arm along with the left arm of a certain muscular mutant grasping onto her. Betsy fell to the ground, extremely tired.
Kitty gasped and tried running to her friend, but quickly Bantam grabbed Kitty's arm. "Hold on… … it'll be alright. Your friend isn't THAT badly injured."
Emma fell to her knees, holding her wounded arm, Vincent following. "S-See…?" Vincent smiled childishly, but became serious as he reached and touched Emma's dripping blood. "You bleed." He touched his wound and showed her HIS blood. "So do I…"
Emma growled low in her throat and pushed Golem away like a little girl in fear. "Animals bleed too." She muttered. The fire became more intense.
"I feel pain, Emma… I feel pain, Lady Frost…"
She blinked. "You're thinking."
"So is everyone."
"I felt pain for a long time."
"Everyone too."
"You humans caused me to pain! To bleed! Gol-"
"A human caused ME to pain… caused ME to bleed. That human was YOU."
Emma stopped… her face appeared to be tinted blue from fear. All these years… in pain. Suffering… … she forgot that in the house of white and the room of padded walls, there were others with her pain as she experienced. THEY were human. THEY were insane humans, but human nonetheless. Then she thought about her mother. Her dear mother trying to protect her... she thought those memories were long gone… but it was true. She was human. She fell to the ground, shaking, holding onto her head tightly, and tears falling from her eyes to the ground.
"Vincent… what have I done…?"
Pietro blinked, noticing that Emma had stopped throwing psychic blades, and the flame dimmed. It was silent… soon all the fire disappeared… … Kitty gasped and ran to Vincent and Emma. They had collapsed.
Remy looked over. "It… stopped…"
Rogue had not forgotten that the man that was holding her was hurt… also she had just kissed him… he had fallen to the ground as well.
It was silent.
The environment was complete, and the sound of ambulances came. Morph blinked. "What's going on?"
Pietro looked around them. People. Injured people. They were still on a hill with an asylum on top, but on the bottom was a city. The ambulance came and picked up Emma, Vincent, and Remy. The mutants followed, with an exception of a disappeared Bantam and Bishop.
"Are you family?"
Rogue was already so angry she was about to punch the nurse's lights out. Morph shifted to an old man. "They are my grandchildren, ma'am. I also insist on the others to come with me…?" Pietro scoffed. "That's ok, I'll wait for you guys here." Betsy nodded. "I'll stay too."
The nurse shook her head. "Unless the others are family…"
Kitty smiled. "I'm Remy's little sister."
Rogue closed her eyes. "Cousin of Vincent."
The nurse rose an eyebrow… she wasn't buying it… but did it really matter? She shrugged. "Fine. Come on in."
Emma and Vincent were on life support, and strangely, Remy was in better shape than they were. The nurse left the mutants in the room, and Morph shifted into Hank McCoy. "The boy has quite a will to live."
Rogue sighed. "Real funny, Morph."
The "old man" groaned. "I was only trying to lighten the mood."
Kitty looked at Remy. "What happened?"
Rogue blushed and looked away, staying silent. Remy gently moved his arm. Kitty jumped up and down in joy. "Yay! Remy! You're alright!"
He smiled softly and looked over at the blushing Rogue. "Did someone embarrass you when I wasn't here, Chere?"
She seemed to blush even brighter. "Jerk."
Kitty ran to Emma and Vincent. She sat down forlornly. "Poor Vince…"
Emma began to make a sound… a doll appeared in her hands. Kitty blinked and looked at the doll… it… it looked like her…? Kitty didn't know what to think. Rogue looked at Emma's bed. "Emma was also one of us… there were eight mutants… not seven. She… Emma Frost… is a puppet to her own dark thoughts and dark spirit… to her own soul. There was light there, though… Vincent just had to show it to her."
Kitty blinked. "What are you saying?"
Remy closed his eyes, overhearing this. "Emma was a marionette… a puppet, jus' like Vincent. He needed her an' she needed him."
Morph couldn't believe his eyes… but Vincent and Emma seemed to be de- aging… "What's happening now?"
Rogue observed… and knew what it was from Emma's thoughts when she had absorbed her power. "Vincent and Emma's innocence was broken. Emma, at an early age, and Vincent just recently. Emma's light energy and soul is giving her shadow soul another chance…along with Vincent."
"Vincent's shadow soul?"
"Vincent wasn't always pure of heart, you know."
Kitty smiled. "So… are they going to live?"
Rogue nodded. "Most likely… unless the wounds are too fatal. If they DO revive, they'll just be kids."
"Merry Christmas, Rogue." Kurt smiled happily and handed her a bouquet of yarrows. She rolled her eyes. "Thanks." The elf put his hands in his pockets. "So… where's Kitty?"
"Giving presents to Vince. The little guy's so excited."
He leaned against the wall. "What about Emma? Where is she?"
"Emma is with the Professor. He thought it'd be best for her to stay with him for a while."
"Rogue!" Betsy ran to her and sighed. Rogue frowned, knowing this day would come. Morph and Bishop accompanied Betsy. "You're leaving already?" Rogue muttered.
Betsy nodded. "Yeah… I have to go back home in London. Bishop needs to clean things up at home…" She looked at Morph. "Where are YOU going?"
Morph scoffed. "I'm going somewhere? Not likely. I have things to catch up with the 'ol wild man." He gave Betsy a small hug. "'Till next time." He patted Bishop's shoulder and walked away.
Betsy gave Rogue a hug and smiled.
"Say hi to Angel for me, Bets."
The purple-haired girl winked. "You got it."
Bishop kicked the ground and looked up at Rogue. "I hope to see you later. Take care of yourself."
She smiled. "You too."
They all left, and Rogue sat there alone in the corner of the room. Scott sat down next to her. "You alright?"
"Yeah… just… gonna miss them all."
He smiled. "Think of it this way… there's always the summer."
Rogue grunted. "Don't even joke about that." She leaned back on the chair she sat on. "I was hopin' Remy would be back to full health and spend Christmas with me."
Scott handed her a box. "Here… this is for you. Merry Christmas." He smiled and stood up. "I'm gonna go talk to Jean now, alright?"
Rogue nodded. "Sure."
Quickly, Rogue opened the box and there a mistletoe was. Mistletoe… hmph. What good was that? Suddenly, a hand reached for it and held it above her head. She looked to whom the hand belonged to, and saw the Cajun man. He smiled. "Miss me?"
She laughed. "How can I miss you if you never go away?"
He held her hand, a smirk on his face. "Admit it… you missed me."
"Alright, alright… I missed you."
He leaned his forehead against hers. "Good." He leaned over and kissed her nose. "Wish I could really kiss ya, Chere… but… anot'er kiss after de one we had, and I'll be a goner."
She smiled. "I understand."
He sat down, and put his arm around her. "So… what're we going t' do now?"
"I dunno…" She knew darn well… they had to catch up on everything they missed in school.
Young Vincent ran to Rogue and Remy in a hurry. The boy laughed and smiled. "Rogue! Remy! Guess what I got?"
Remy laughed. "What?"
Vincent pulled out a tiny doll in his hands. "Emma gave it to me!"
Rogue looked at the doll… on it; Golem was on its forehead with fine black stitched letters. The note attached read:
To: Golem
From: The Marionette
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That's it!!! For those that MAY be confused…I have explanations to several things here:
Why did Emma need Rogue? It was basically Emma's light side, the good part of her soul that wanted Rogue's help. Emma needed people to truly understand her… and those people were Vincent and Rogue. You dig?
That is one question I asked myself when making this, and if it was yours when you finished reading this, you now know! Fancy that! ~_^
Ok, the MAJOR question is whether to make a sequel or not? I'm starting to develop my writing skills, so my story may be a lot better and I will add Rogue's accent (I was gonna in the beginning of THIS story, but I wasn't sure… cuz in X-Evo, she sounds pretty normal to me… maybe I just don't notice accents unless they're written ^_^;;;) I dunno, the vote goes to the reviewers, I guess. :D Oh! And I WILL get pics up. It'll be in a story called Marionette Pics, and I'll write URLS on where the pics will be.
WELL… PEACE OUT Y'ALL!!!
~Brakish~