"Look who's baaack!" A jeering voice came as the outline of a feminine figure could be seen coming out of the dust. "Awww, aren't you going to say hello," it was Plethora, surrounded by a golden shield from her power. "Before you have to say goodbye?!?" She raised a hand threateningly at the group of escapees. "Any last words?"

"I've got some." Said Psylocke in the same airy, confidant voice. "How about… go to hell, bitch!" Psylocke yelled as in a flash she was behind the agent and had her in a headlock, holding her psychic knife an inch away from her head. Everyone just stared, stunned. Plethora was actually trembling with shivers running up and down her spine. "What's the matter? Scared?"

"No one's ever been able to--to get this close, let alone tou--touch me." This agent said through her shivers.

"Oh well isn't this a surprise for you?!? Well between now and then-- I've changed and now… you're going to pay!"

"Hold it!" Betsy hadn't even moved a muscle. Two other figures came into view in the now settling dust. "You think you'll get away with something that easily?"

"You thought wrong." The other voice replied. The dust cleared to reveal two guys dressed in similar wear to Plethora, Agent Winters.

"Why don' ya do what's good for yuh an' buzz off?!?" Rogue yelled at them.

"No can do, see? Our "job" is to bring you in."

"Well then," Pietro began, cutting in, "bu bye!" He kicked on knee into the air to speed off. He hadn't gone four feet when he couldn't go any farther. He was floating in the air, both feet off the ground. "Hey!"

"You didn't think we were about to let you leave did you?" The other man spoke again. One of his hands was outstretched, obviously the reason that Pietro was now floating.

"Hey, yo!" Toad yelled and took a huge leap over everyone's heads to land on the guy stopping his teammate from escaping. He was almost there but stopped, midair, trying to grab this guy who was inches away from his grasp.

"You can't touch me!" This was so to speak since his mutant power was the ability to control and shift gravitational fields. By taking away Pietro and Toad's gravity they couldn't even touch the ground, let alone go anywhere.

"Let them GO!" Psylocke shouted, pointing her psychic knife at him and still holding Plethora in a headlock.

"Let her go and I'll let your little friends g--" He was cut off as a hand held him by the neck making him dangle above the ground.

"I think you'll let them down without us complying if you want to keep your vocal chords." Monet held him above her head with ease and her eyes looked most threatening.

"Well, comply THIS!" The second man yelled as he wielded a blue telekinetic energy from his forehead and hands. With that he threw Monet backwards and slammed her back into the wall.

"Ah'm getting' sick a' this. We end this now!" Rogue shouted and the others followed her into battle with the exception of Pietro and Toad who were still stuck. The man with telekinesis hit them all with a blast of energy. Rogue was the only one to stay standing because Jean's powers had just resurfaced inside of her. But, apparently his powers are greater than Jean's because he overpowered her, sending her flying. She was headed for a wall just like Monet but suddenly landed in someone's arms. She looked up to see the face of Remy staring down at her and for a moment she enjoyed the view. She suddenly realized to herself that she was supposed to despise him and pushed herself out of his hold almost causing herself to stumble and fall but she kept her balance.

"Come on chere. Don' y' wan' t' t'ank Remy fo' savin y'?" Rogue glared at him for a second, resenting him. Not because she quote unquote 'hated' him but because somewhere inside her she had hoped that he was the one who saved her out of all the people who were down here with her, that when she opened her eyes she would see him and no one else. She asked herself whether she would have acted this way had it been Bobby, --Pietro, or God forbid-- Toad who saved her. Most definitely yes popped into her mind. She shook herself out of her little trance, realizing there was indeed a fight at hand.

"Ah don' need yuh tuh come tuh mah rescue every given moment-- swamp rat!" She told him, content with that she got the last word. She did a one eighty and began to walk back in the direction of the fight.

"Maybe if y' weren' in trouble eve'y given momen', chere, y' wouldn' need Remy t' rescue y'!!" He shouted after her. She winced at his words because well… he was being a smart-ass about it. Rogue shook it off and pulled the weightless Toad and Pietro out of the line of fire just in time to miss a beam of heat projected by Plethora.

"AUGH!" Both Pietro and Toad let out a girlish scream at the same moment. Not only because they almost got barbecued but because it was Rogue who had saved them. "Okay yo, now--now let me go--" He stuttered, unable to takes his eyes off of their three attackers. Rogue released Toad but was smiling devilishly at Pietro who looked flustered, as she still gripped his arm.

"Lemme go!" he shouted, trying to pull himself out of her grip.

"Yuh know? That was the most-- ~interestin'~ scream yuh had there Pietro. All this tahme ya act like some tough guy when really--really yuh'll scream lahke a little girl at the first sahgn of real danger." Rogue mustered that out and began cracking up causing her to release the floating Pietro. He couldn't think of anything to say and blushed, but he still stared daggers at her. He would definitely find some way to 'pay her back'. He continued to try to reach out of the air and hit, smack, or punch her, anything, but she was out of his reach. A lurch in all space shut Rogue up and wiped Pietro's face blank. It was like some great force caused everything in existence to shift like the gravitational pull quivered or something. Everyone looked around to see the green-haired girl flying above them with her hands outstretched. The young mutants were still unsure of who she was and what her powers were.

"You lackeys picked the wrong mutant to mess with, BELIEVE me!" She shouted, lifting a hand that caused some pipes to wrap themselves around the man who could alter gravity. He was now hanging three feet off the ground by his neck. A wave of her hands and Toad and Pietro had terrified looks on their faces. The next second they dropped to the ground in a heap. Lorna's powers weren't just magnetic control but some control of electrical and gravitational fields, so she had restored Pietro and Toad's gravity. The man with telekinesis tried to reach her but was weakened by the intense activity around him. "You will pay for what you've done!!" Lorna declared, releasing a pulse of magnetic energy as strong as she could muster. Her powers seemed much stronger ever since arriving here through the Crimson Dawn like they were somehow boosted. Unfortunately that pulse was all she could muster, her newfound power was too much for her and exhausted her. That blast caused her to collapse and the ripple in space forced Psylocke to release her grip on Plethora.

"Am I supposed to be frightened by this measly attempt?" Plethora asked, regaining her composure.

"You bet lady!!" Monet yelled diving at her and smashing her into the wall with all her force. Kitty was phasing through attacks placed by the gravitational mutant and Bobby kept trying to freeze the telekinetic. Gambit couldn't fare against either of the men since their powers could keep him from getting to them.

Plethora shot a force beam at M, throwing her into the ceiling of the sewer.

"Ya call that a tackle?" She mocked Monet before firing a heat beam from one fist and a light beam from the other. After a short struggle she gave orders to the other two agents. "We don't have time for this, men. Grab who you can and we'll finish this later."

"Negative, Agent Winters." A voice sputtered over a com-link she had. "You won't leave 'till the job is finished and that means every--last--one. Over ~~~"

A sour look spread on her face in response to that transmission and she continued to fight long and hard. The telekinetic was now gathering up Lorna and trying to use his powers to rip Jamie from Theresa's grasp.

"NO! I won't LET YOU!" She screamed, already losing control of her powers as her sonic abilities began taking affect in her regular speech. "go NNOOOOWWWW!!" She yelled with her sonic abilities. It definitely did damage but not as much as she would've hoped. It probably did worse for her friends than her enemies.

"Shut UP!" Plethora shouted at her, becoming more annoyed by the second. "Give them all you've got and take whoever drops!" She ordered, firing a force/heat beam in all directions while the other two stretched their powers over the entire sewers to take all of them out. When everything cleared most everyone was down but before Plethora could even give another command she was pinned against the wall by Monet and Pietro, a combination of speed and strength. "Don't waist my time!!" She snarled and blasted the both of them away and Monet was right back there, never relenting. "What does it take to take you down?!?" Then she swings M into the wall causing it to crumble on top of her. The telekinetic used his power to remove the rocks to reveal a very beaten Monet. "I guess that's what it takes." She said with a smirk, turning to converse with the two other agents.

"Rogue…" Almost a whisper was muster and she looked around to see where it was coming from, making sure the three agents didn't notice she was quite obviously conscious. "Rogue…" The voice was a little louder this time. "Do--me a--favor?" It was Monet, she wasn't beaten yet so to speak.

"What?"

"Come'ere a sec…" Rogue crawled on hands and knees part of the way and squatted down right next to her.

"Whut?!?" She said in a hurried whisper, her accent sounding thicker.

"This." Monet said as she reached both her hands and grabbed Rogue's face with her bare hands. The transfer started immediately. Rogue struggled to get out of the grip but Monet was still quite strong for being in such a weak position.

"Whut're yuh doin'!?!?" She almost screamed, drawing attention to the two of them. More than a minute had passed and they still remained in contact with Rogue unable to wrench herself free.

"I know you wouldn't have done it voluntarily-- Rogue. My powers are needed where I won't be for much longer." Rogue was speechless as she simply stared as she could feel Monet flowing into her. Agent Winters, also known as Plethora, pulled the two apart in a swift movement and she gestured for the telekinetic to retrieve her.

"I though you were down. Guess I thought wrong!" Agent Winters said to Rogue as she grabbed her by her clothed wrist. "You and your friends are coming with me."

"Ah don' think so!" Rogue shouted as she flipped Agent Winters over her head and into the wall with such ease she never thought possible. For those who were still fighting the fight, they were dealing with the gravity guy. She noticed Gambit in particular, throwing card after card. "Hey-- swamp rat, look out!!" Rogue took flight and actually picked him up and flew to the ceiling out of danger.

"Why chere, Remy di'n know y' cared." Rogue didn't have any retorts to that.

"Who's rescuin' who now?" She answered him with a smile.

"Remy t'ink y' got a point, chere."

"Tahme for me tuh drop yuh at yur stop now." She said, landing him on a ledge out of harm's way. "Don' yuh go nowhere."

"Y' got mo' t' worry bout dan Remy, chere." He said pointing at the three, still conscious agents collecting the others.

"Ovah mah dead body!" She yelled and flew back down as fast as she could.

"Jus' make su'e to keep it f'om comin t' dat, ight chere?!?" He yelled after her. He noticed Rogue had this new zeal inside of her and it wasn't just now but a couple times ever since the fight had begun in the middle of the city. It was gradual but inevitable.

On the ground Psylocke wasn't 'down' yet but she sure didn't have any energy left. Rogue flew back and forth delivering devastating blows to both men while the others tried to stop Agent Winters including Kitty, Pietro and Toad.

"Shoo flies, don't bother me." She said with a wave of her hand making them all fly backwards into a wall.

"Oh NO! She's got Monet! Someone, like, do something before she gets away!" Kitty shouted, half covered by rocks, half covered by the torsos of Toad and Pietro and way to panicked to focus on phasing. The other two agents ran after their lead agent like scared little puppies with their tails between their legs. They were closely followed by Rogue who stopped short and hovered above the heap that was Kitty, Toad and Pietro.

"They're gone." She stated and turned back into the sewer, her back facing the crumbled wall their enemies had entered through.

"Hey, like, what about Monet?" Kitty asked urgently, worried about their new ally.

"She knew she wouldn' win the fahght (fight) back. She took a dahve (dive) in battle jus' so the rest of us could survahve (survive). Now Ah have her powers, an'-- an' Ah've never felt a consciousness so strong in meh before.

"Hey, you've never been in contact with anyone for that long, have you?" Bobby intervened. "Oh well, never mind that. If we couldn't save our closest friends forget her. Totally not worth it!"

"Bobby!" Kitty snapped, full of surprise. "I'm, like, definitely having doubts that you ever should've become an X-man. I can't believe you could be so insensitive!"

"Insensitive? We abandoned our best friends, our teammates out there and in here we let go of one meaningless person and the one is more important than the lot?!? Is she any more important than any of our friends? Don't talk to me about 'insensitive'!!" On his last word he glared at Psylocke who took no surprise on his reaction. In fact she had expected it with reading his mind during the whole ordeal.

"Well, if you're done preaching to the choir, 'Drake'. Why don't you seal up that huge whole and be some help for once?" Bobby continued glaring at her even after her comment and offhandedly iced up a wall where there once was one without removing his stare. "Good to see you taking advice for once, but I'm sure it's only because you know I'd have your spot on the team had I arrived at the institute at the same time as you."

" 'nough said, let's take flight a this place, before they decide to come back for round two." Rogue suggested. She still flew in the air, thoroughly enjoying the feel. It was nothing like using Storm's power to fly, it was just flight. They began pressing on slowly in a random direction.

"Hey chere, yoohoo!! Rogue! Y' ain't gonna leave Remy up he'e fo'ever now r y'?!?" Rogue doubled back and flew so she was face level with him.

"Yuh wanted somethin' Cajun?" She asked innocently.

"How 'bout a lift fo' y' ol' pal Remy?"

"Pals are we now? Seems lahke it changes with every meetin'." Remy had a pleading face on that she couldn't resist. "Fahne." She said, rolling her eyes in a fake annoyance fashion. She scooped him up and flew off to catch up with the rest of the group.

"Remy tell y' sometin chere. He could get used t' dis." He said grinning ear to ear. Rogue huffed and then dropped him into the sewer water with a wave of annoyance and continued flying at the same height.

"Now yuh really are a swamp rat, swamp rat!" She sneered at him as she flew ahead faster to gain the lead of the group. Remy stood up in the greenish sewer water; not caring about the smell or the lack of sanitation just stood there. There was something about her whether it was the challenge or the feistiness that drew him to her and he felt that he had just made a very large dent in that thick shell of hers.

TBC…