NOTES: As you're sure to have noticed in the last chapter, I am incorporating bits of the first X-Men movie into this story with the introduction of Rogue as "Marie." This is intentional as I am using that movie as a great inspiration for the series.
In this chapter you will see the introduction of several adaptations from what I know of the comic series, such as characters, their powers and little bits of plots that fit this story. Readers do not have to be familiar with anything other than the cartoon series to enjoy this story, as it as written as an Alternate Universe strongly based in Evolution. I put these notes up so that readers who are familiar with all genres know similarities are intentional on my part BUT they are NOT 'faithful' to the other series as I am adapting them to fit the Evolution world and what I want to happen in this story.
My best advice to all is read this with a clear mind and simply follow along to see what's to come. :-)
Thank you to all my reviewers and I'm thrilled you like it so far! I hope to keep up the good work.
Shadow of the Sword, yes, Rogue will be the pivotal character in the series though there will be many other viewpoints throughout and I'll be writing little almost side stories to give my take on how the whole ensemble is likely to have reacted. Others who will be getting a good deal of attention are: Apocalypse, Charles, Kurt, Logan, Mesmero, and Mystique.
Winter Fire, glad you're deciding to stick around even with the Rogan overtones of these first few chapters. As anyone who's read my profile knows, I am a die hard Rogue/Wolverine shipper, but I have already decided to change my writing just a bit in this series and present 'Marie' with a few options in suitors. The ultimate choice, if there is one, shall remain known only to me until the story unfolds as uploaded though. ;-)
Now on with the next installment.
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Unexpected Visitors
Sleep was impossible for Kurt who instead simply stayed wide awake staring at the broken pieces of his mother wondering what to do next.
Suddenly his body stilled and stiffened as his pointy blue ears twitched, sensing something strange.
~~ Bring her to me. ~~
Robotically, the Nightcrawler responded to the command spoken into his frazzled mind and he began teleported an armload of Mystique's remains from his room to the hooded figure awaiting him outside the gates of the school.
~~ Place them there. ~~
Blindly, Kurt turned his body in the direction the man pointed with his staff and deposited his burden on the back of the pickup as instructed.
Without further orders, he ported back into his room for another load and repeated the process until every single piece was transferred to the vehicle outside.
~~ You will sleep now and remember none of this. ~~
Firmly under the telepath's control, the blue boy teleported back into his bedroom after placing the last piece in the truck, laid down upon his bed and fell asleep.
~*~*~
Mesmero!
Charles bolted upright in his bed, awakened by the restless sleep he'd finally fallen into as he strongly sensed the presence of the other mutant.
A dream?, he wondered as he scanned the mansion and found no traces of the mindbender within the school's walls or on the grounds.
Suddenly the telephone on his nightstand rang and he jerked in that direction to fumble slightly with the receiver.
"Charles Xavier," he answered.
"Professor Xavier, this is Warden Burkheart, Mesmero has escaped. We - "
Frowning suspiciously, the Professor calmly hung the phone back up and cut off the remainder of the caller's words. He then pulled on his robe and edged his body off the bed into his wheelchair.
~~ Everyone, meet me in the conference room at once. ~~
~*~*~
The relative strangers began arriving in the hours before dawn as the yawning team members tried to figure out where Mesmero now was and what he wanted with Mystique's remains, which were found to be missing.
Warren Worthington III, also known as Angel for the 16 foot feathered wings his mutation had given him, flew past the ground's security features to land on the front doorstep and calmly ring the doorbell. Most of the team knew of him for having joined the X-Men to try preventing Mesmero from getting the second key to free Apocalypse, but still he was an unknown to them.
Though slightly surprised by the blonde mutant's arrival at 4 am in the morning, Charles welcomed him into the mansion and brought him in on the discussion they'd been having.
Sensing a busy day ahead, the Professor shut down the security system thirty minutes later, shortly before the Braddock twins, Brian and Elizabeth, arrived at the mansion fresh from the airport their trans-Atlantic flight from England to New York City had landed at. It had been a few years now since Xavier had visited the twins' father to offer his assistance in helping the children with their growing mutations and he could see much had changed since then. Charles knew they were only 17, but the siblings walked into the room with an air of experience and strength about them that awed the whole team.
Betsy had somehow transformed from the blonde haired little imp she'd been to a regally statuesque woman with long purple black hair and a lightning bolt tattooed over her left eye. Brian looked about the same as he had - plus the years that had passed, about two feet in height and an abundance of muscles. Though they were both dressed in civilian attire, each of the twins were arms with what Charles assumed was their weapon of choice. A large, heavy broadsword hung from Brian's belt, giving him the look of a Viking conqueror, and a dainty yet deadly katana blade was sheathed on Elizabeth's back for easy reach.
While the team was slowly becoming more alert as their curiosity at the new arrivals grew, Charles ordered them to prepare for even more. They were all learning that last night's events had made international news and mutants throughout the world were making their way to the institute to stand with the X-Men however they could against Apocalypse, whom they'd all witnessed vanquishing the legendary Magento with a flick of the wrist. Such power was terrifying for all inhabitants of the world to witness and those who could do something to stop it, such as these mutants, were all preparing to do just that.
A rather unknown character clad in black leather who introduced himself as Nate Grey came roaring up the driveway on a Harley at a little after 5 am. Though the Professor knew nothing about this young man, it was clear he was a mutant ready to stand guard with the team to prevent whatever Apocalypse had planned. The intriguing fellow was greeted and welcomed into the mansion just as the three visitors before him had been.
Piotr Rasputin and Remy LeBeau, also known as Colossus and Gambit respectively, were rather unexpected arrivals just as dawn broke over the city of Bayville. While Charles knew Piotr had been an unwilling comrade to Magneto, Remy had always appeared fiercely loyal to the now fallen mutant and all were slightly suspicious of his presence.
The suave Cajun explained away his actions as simply wanting to be on the winning team when this battle began and without Mags, the X-Men were humanity's only hope at coming out of this whole thing unscathed. There was also a great deal of anger toward Magnus in the young man for having left the team behind in Egypt while he foolishly rushed of to Mexico to face the big bad alone. Eventually, they all accepted that he was there to do whatever good he good and they would be able to trust him in any situations that presented themselves, so he too was welcomed to the team.
Ororo was thrilled an hour later when Evan and the group of eight Morlocks strode into the room. The weather Goddess forgot the graveness of the situation the team faced, to lovingly embrace the nephew she'd not seen in months as he hid in the sewers with the mutant group that shunned life above ground.
The young man accepted her hugs and welcome for a moment before declaring that Caliban knew of what was happening and they all were there to help. He then mentioned that it was morning and none of them had yet eaten, which reminded everyone else gathered in the rather full conference room that it was definitely time for breakfast.
It was during their meal that the most unexpected visitors presented themselves to the rather relaxed team members who were getting acquainted as they ate.
Kurt, who needed no more surprises, got just that when his girlfriend, Amanda, and her mother, Margali, stepped hesitantly into the room after letting themselves into the mansion. The pair then announced to the Professor that they were both sorceresses ready, willing and able to join in any attempt to defeat Apocalypse.
All the students who knew the girl were stunned by the news, especially her boyfriend who'd never been given a clue. Overwhelmed by all the shocks of the past few days, the blue boy lost all traces of his notorious appetite and ported quietly from the room as Amanda looked on sadly.
The large gathering of volunteers now at the school would be needed in the days, perhaps weeks or more, to come and Xavier knew that the adjustments would be slow and painful to make for many members of the team. He only hoped that Kurt had enough forgiveness in his soul to cope with the great traumas he was being dealt at this time.
~*~*~
A laughing Pyro let himself into the Brotherhood Boarding House as all the occupants were just beginning to stir.
John ignored the glares and questions of Fred, Lance, Pietro and Todd to focus his attention on the sight of a delightfully rumpled Wanda yawning and stretching her way down the stairs, no yet aware of their guest.
"Well, now that's a jolly good sight for a mate to see first thing in the mornin'."
The Scarlet Witch froze mid-yawn to glare at the older boy and fling out an arm to send him flying back against the wall.
"What are you doing here?" she snarled.
"Now, now, sheila, relax. Didn't mean no harm by it, twas paying ya a compliment," the pinned young man grinned.
"That doesn't answer my question!" she moved closer to the 'intruder.' "Is my father with you?"
"Well, now, pet, I hate ta be the one to inform you of this but ol' Mags is dead. That's why I'm here. The blokes have all split up, Sabes went off on his own, Remy and Pete are with the goodie-two-shoes over yonder and I'm settling in here."
"We've got no way of knowing he died!" Pietro darted in front of the other boy to shout.
"Well sonny, I know you loved your pops and all, but I think we can all take the facts that we saw him get evaporated on the news last night and that he's not tried to contact anyone to say he hasn't been killed pretty much says the man faced his last foe."
"You're not welcome here, flamer, go join the rest of your crew with the X-Men," Lance ordered.
"No," Wanda said quietly as she released her invisible hold on Pyro. "I he can stay here."
She moved her brother aside to stand before the new member of their team, "If you ever mention Magneto again, though, you'll be lucky if all I do is throw you out."
Shaking off the confusing emotions that had been plaguing her since they all saw the broadcast late last night, Wanda made her way into the kitchen to see if they had anything suitable to eat this morning.
She'd wanted her father dead for so long, even if she no longer remembered why she'd felt that way. She didn't know why it was so gut wrenching for her to imagine him actually gone from this Earth.
It's too soon for anyone to know for sure what happened to him, she thought firmly, we've no way of knowing if whatever Apocalypse had done to Magneto had actually killed the father she'd long though indestructible.
~*~*~
Logan reluctantly woke the girl sleeping against his chest so that he could move from the bed.
Her eyes, red and swollen from all her crying in the night, opened instantly at his actions.
"Don't leave me," she whispered with a gloved hand wrapping around his wrist.
"I'm not going far, darlin'," he whispered back while brushing some hair from her cheek with his free hand. "I saw a fast food joint just down the road from here when we pulled into town last night and I'm gonna run over and get us some breakfast."
The mere mention of food had her stomach growling, which made them smile a little at each other. Still smiling she pushed herself upright and prepared to get out of bed and go with him to get the food.
"No," he gently urged her to lay down again, "you get some more sleep."
"But - "
"It'll be ok, Marie. The place is just a minute from here and I'll be back in a jiffy. Last night was pretty rough on ya, get all the rest ya can."
"Get me pancahkes and meat. Don't much care which kind, just meat," she ordered with a yawn while nodded her acceptance of his words, "and orange juice."
Resisting the urge to again brush back her hair, he forced himself to concentrate on filling both their empty stomachs and stepped into his boots.
Standing in the open doorway of their motel room, he looked back at the bed with a smile as he saw her sleepy eyes watching him leave.
"Don't open the door for anyone while I'm gone and I'll be back before ya know it," Logan promised as he slowly left the room, shutting the door firmly behind him.
As he climbed onto his motorcycle outside the room to head over to the restaurant, his nostrils flared as they detected a hint of something familiar in the air. Turning his head rapidly in every direction he focused all his senses on identifying the scent and it's source, but there was nothing.
No figures lurking in shadows, no approaching footsteps, no hair standing up on the back of his neck to indicate a threat present and when he inhaled again, no scent.
Writing it off as a fluke or hunger pang, he strapped on his helmet and left the parking lot to get their breakfast.
~*~*~
Eyes gleaming, Mesmero watched the Wolverine drive away with a satisfied smile then moved quickly from his hiding place.
These mutants of Xavier's just made it too easy for him.
Knowing his time was limited the mind controller focused upon Rogue with the room he now stood outside.
Within seconds the girl obeyed his summons and opened the door to stand before him in a trance.
He turned to the side and made a sweeping motion with his arm, indicating she was to walk past him.
Without hesitation, the girl did just that, walking past his smirking figure to the pickup truck awaiting their quick departure. Gloating Mesmero shut the motel room door then climbed behind the wheel of the vehicle to get his two bundles to Master as soon as he possibly could.
In the rearview mirror he saw the Wolverine's bike parked outside the fast food establishment the oblivious man was currently inside.
Confident Apocalypse would be pleased with him for this, the mutant happily stepped on the gas and began putting as much distance between himself and the surely to be infuriated Weapon X he'd just stolen the Rogue from.