When Worlds Collide

            Wake up, Donovan!  None of this should concern you!  You have a mad man trying to kill everyone, two girls trying to manipulate you, and a bunch of punks in pretty pajamas running around.  You don't need this!  Let's get out of here and we'll be all right! Mandy roars in Donovan's mind.

            Something's not right, Mandy… Donovan thinks.  She looks around at the chaos around her.  Her eyes fall on Rogue.  You said I had feelings for Rogue.  Why don't I remember?

            I'm still blocking that from you, honey, Mandy says gently.  You were so torn up by it in the first place.  I couldn't bear to have you relive it again.

            Donovan shakes her head.  I need to know about things in my own life, Mandy.  I can't go on being so confused.

            "Get outta here, ya X-Morons.  I got bones ta pick with these four," Sabretooth's voice pulls Donovan from her internal struggle.  He whips Marvel Girl around to show the others how band of a position she's in.  He glares at Jennifer, who is smiling smugly.  "What the hell are you so happy about?"

            "You're the one in serious trouble, muscle head," Jennifer replies.  "You're totally outnumbered.  We may not all be working together but our common goal is the same:  getting rid of you.  That's why we're all here, you know.  That's why I called Donny out here.  We stopped you once before, we can do it again."

            "What?" Donovan, Rogue, and Sabretooth demand.  Jennifer pulls away from Donovan, who is seriously doubting everything, despite Mandy's warnings in her mind.

            In his confusion, Sabretooth loosens his grip on Marvel Girl.  The only person who notices is Gambit, who has finally braved a look at his biggest fear.  He takes this opportunity to charge a playing card from the pocket of his duster and toss it skillfully at Sabretooth.

            Sabretooth reels back and drops Marvel Girl.  She rushes to Cyclops instinctively.  Wolverine watches, snarling.  Sabretooth has unwittingly brought that couple closer together.  With his hatred for Sabretooth deepened, Wolverine lunges at his enemy again.  "Time to die, bub!"

            Jennifer smirks at Rogue.  "You know I was lying for sure, kiddo.  Thanks for not totally blowing my cover," she knocks Storm over and grabs Rogue by the arm.  "We need to talk!"

            Cyclops tries to regain control of the situation.  He steps away from Marvel Girl reluctantly.  "All right, guys.  We know which is the main enemy for now.  Take Sabretooth down now and we'll figure out the rest later!"

            "Good plan, Cyclops," Beast says a bit sarcastically.  "Except for one small problem…"
            "And what would that be?" Cyclops snaps.  He hasn't  noticed that Jennifer has grabbed Rogue and is on her way out the door.

            Storm has gotten up.  Her pupils have been whitened out in her anger.  "No one pushes me!" she focuses her ability to control the elements on Jennifer and Rogue.  "I'll fry your stupid ass for that!"

            "No, she has Rogue!" Donovan screams.  She doesn't know what she feels for Rogue but she can't let anyone hurt the girl.  She grabs Storm and punches her as hard as she can in the jaw.  Storm screams and falls to the ground, unconscious.

            Beast grabs Donovan.  "How dare you hit the woman I love?"

            "Hey, blue boy," Warren shouts.  "She was going to zap an innocent!"

            "How are we supposed to know who's innocent or not?" Colossus demands, towering over Warren.  "For all we know, you've got our names on tombstones already."

            Donovan jerks away from the Beast and begins to chase after Jennifer again.  She ignores Mandy's screams in her head.  Leave them!  You're free to just get out of here!  Think of yourself for once!"

            Unless you're going to give me access to my memories again, Mandy, even you're suspect right now so leave me alone!  Donovan thinks bitterly, hating that she has to treat the only one she really trusts like an enemy.  For all she knows, Mandy really is protecting her.

            Mandy says nothing else but Donovan can almost feel a darkness form in her head.  She doesn't like the way that seems but she keeps running anyway.

            "What now, Cyke?" Gambit asks.  Now that Wolverine has chased Sabretooth out of the cabin again, he feels safer.

            Beast is holding Storm.  "I'm getting her to the Blackbird.  She needs medical treatment.  I think that wench just broke Ororo's jaw!"

            "You do that," Cyclops agrees.  "Jean, go with him.  Colossus, come with me after Sabretooth.  Gambit, you go after the girls with Mr. Worthington."

            "You know who I am?" Warren asks.

            "It's my job to know of powerful mutants in high places," Cyclops replies.  "Help Gambit figure out what's going on here, please."

            Gambit leads Warren from the cabin through the door way, following Marvel Girl and Beast.  Colossus and Cyclops head of through the hole in the cabin to follow Wolverine and Sabretooth.

INTO THE WOODS:

            "What're ya doin' with me?" Rogue demands weakly.  She is exhausted and can barely keep up with Jennifer, who is yanking her along through the woods.  She cries out in pain and drops to her knees.  Jennifer drags her for a bit before giving up and stopping.  "Ah can't keep up like this.  What do ya want?"

            "Donny's still a little sweet on you, right?" Jennifer asks suddenly, looking around.  She doesn't see anyone nearby.  She shrugs.  "Even though she doesn't remember you, she knows you mean something to her."

            Rogue wipes tears from her face.  "Ah dunno.  Why does that matter?"

            "Donny's much more powerful than she realizes.  I need that power at my disposal if I want to form my mercenary company," Jennifer says.  "Once Donny realizes how useful she would be, I'm sure she'd be willing to work for me."

            Rogue just stares at Jennifer for a minute.  "You just want Donovan fer a mercenary thing?  Why the hell would you go through all this just for that?  Just ask her fer Chris'sake!"

            Jennifer shakes her head.  "You don't seem to understand.  Donovan is kind of a loose cannon in a lot of different ways.  Because that Mandy witch is in her head, she doesn't make her own decisions.  She just doesn't realize it.  Or maybe she is now…" Jennifer looks thoughtful.  "I think she's starting to realize that she's being manipulated."

            "You're tryin' ta manipulate her," Rogue says coldly.

            "Not really," Jennifer says.  "I did try that before but with Mandy in her head, it's impossible.  Now I'm being honest with her.  I think she can sense that.  That's why she's following us.  She wants the truth and knows that it isn't in her head."

            "How do Ah play into this?" Rogue asks.

            Jennifer grins.  "Glad you asked.  You see, whatever is going on in her head, she is focused on you.  You've got her heart while Mandy has her head.  So in some ways, you can control Donny.  I know you won't use her, that's why I'm being straight with you.  You have to understand that she can't let that Mandy character run her life.  You have to show her that."

            "Why'd you suddenly have this change o' heart?" Rogue asks.

            "Because I know Donovan would help me if she was thinking on her own," Jennifer says.  "I'm not really a bad guy, Rogue.  I'm looking after my own interests.  I screwed up getting involved in Weapon X.  I screwed you and hundreds of other young mutants over.  I did it for personal gain and I'm not sorry for it."

            Rogue glares at Jennifer, who isn't even looking at her anymore.  "This world is being torn apart by the bigotry between humans and mutants.  Everyone thinks they're the greater race.  Someone needs to show them that they're all the same in the great scheme of things."

            "Ain't  that Xavier's goal?" Rogue asks.  "Join the X-Men.  They like that sorta thing."

            Jennifer laughs.  "Xavier's a moron.  You think humans and mutants are going to live together peacefully?  You think he can make that happen without shedding blood?" she shrugs.  "It's be nice but who's going to profit from that?"

            "You, Ah'd suppose," Rogue says bitterly.  She isn't a big fan of the X-Men but she doesn't exactly like where this is heading either.

            "Exactly!" Jennifer exclaims.  "Humans and mutants are each powerful in their own way.  Mutants have their natural abilities and humans have their crazy manmade weapons.  When used together, that's one hell of a fighting force!  If I can gather enough willing participants, I can provide an army of already cooperating species.  With that army, a global takeover is inevitable and a new empire can arise.  Democracy has already failed.  You saw the results of the last election.  Why not have a leader in charge who will treat everyone the same?"

A BIT FURTHER AWAY:

            "Donovan!" Warren shouts hoarsely.  He is flying above the trees, hoping to catch the gray blur that would be his employee.  "Donovan, damn it, where are you?"

            Warren is holding Gambit in his arms.  Gambit is excited to be on a mission on his own.  Normally he is stuck sticking by Cyclops' side and that gets boring after a while.  He almost feels bad for Wolverine, who has to put up with the team leader's stiffness.  But the thought of being a hero by himself keeps him from dwelling on it.  That, and the fact that he doesn't have to deal with Sabretooth.

            Down below, Donovan is tracking Jennifer and Rogue as best  as she can.  But something keeps forcing her in circles.  She thinks she's on the right track and then ends up in the place she started from.  She shakes her head in frustration.  "Mandy, let me do what I have to do!" she screams finally, dropping to her knees.

            Kitty Pryde is hiding behind a tree nearby.  She figured that following Donovan would be the safest and most beneficial thing she could do for the team.  Since Donovan was chasing after a woman dragging another girl away by force, she just assumes that Donovan's a good guy.  She also knows that Gambit and some handsome winged man are also following Donovan so she wants to be at a safe distance, just in case.

            Donovan pounds her fist into the ground, leaving a deep hole there.  She gets to her feet again.  She doesn't want to fly, afraid that the trees would block her view but running was obviously not getting her anyway.

            "Mandy, I know you don't want me to be hurt by realizing what I feel for Rogue or whatever, but I need to know the truth!  Either tell me everything or let me find out on my own!" Donovan grumbles.

            No.  You need to just leave here.  When we're a good, safe distance away from this insanity, I'll tell you everything you need to know, Mandy replies telepathically.  Besides, a secret costumed crusader is following you.  You don't want to lead her to Rogue, do you?  What if they're the bad guys after all?  One of them almost fried Rogue, remember?

            Kitty watches Donovan intently.  She can tell that Donovan is searching for something new now but is certain that she can't be detected.  When Donovan flies up into the air, Kitty gasps and rushes out of her hiding spot, determined to stay with her.

            "Go'cha!" Donovan exclaims, landing behinds Kitty.  She grabs the startles junior X-Man and lifts her by the back of the shirt.  "You're not wearing a uniform…"

            "I'm not an X-Man!" Kitty cries.

            "Who are you?" Donovan demands, shaking Kitty slightly.  "Why are you following me?"

            "I just wanna help!" Kitty exclaims.  That is the truth.  She just doesn't know whether helping the X-Men is the same as helping Donovan yet.

            Donovan suddenly grins.  "You can lead me to where Boost took Rogue!"

            "Uh… Yeah!" Kitty says.  "They went that way but you keep running around in circles.  I can follow their trail."

            Don't trust her!  If you can't follow their trail, she certainly can't! Mandy snaps.  C'mon!

            You're keeping me from finding them!  Donovan thinks.  You're not trying to help me at all!

            "You okay?" Kitty asks.

            "Fine," Donovan says.  "Let's get out of here."