Sam groaned, collapsing underneath Rahne in post-climactic bliss. Dimly he was aware as her death-grip on his shoulder loosened and she tenderly licked at the wound she'd created moments before with her razor-sharp teeth. Teeth that were now thankfully reverting to normal... along with any other of her lingering wolfish features. Now she was just the pretty russet-haired girl he'd fallen for.
"Mmmm... you're mine now," she murmured against his skin, kissing the shoulder where moments before she'd given him a vicious bite. "I've marked you."
"Wolves mark their mates?" he asked, idly curious, tilting his head up to regard her.
"Nope... just me," she added with a grin, leaning forward to kiss him again. Rahne's kisses were just like her lovemaking. Passionate, rough, and predatorial. Just like she was. Sam shifted, grabbing the covers that'd been thrown off their bed and pulling them up over himself and Rahne as she relaxed more completely, resting her head atop of his muscular chest as the two of them slowly drifted off to sleep.
It was a small slice of Heaven, in a world that had been prematurely sent to Hell.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lance stalked down the corridors of the fortress, eager to be alone. He had no desire to sit amongst so many of his peers and fellow soldiers and have them endlessly ask him if he wanted a drink or a dance. He just needed some private time alone.
So it was that he opened his door and stepped into his single room, slamming the door shut. By fortune and good grace he had no roommate. Which was good, because he didn't want to deal with anyone right now.
Sighing, Lance tore open the pack of cigarettes he'd grabbed from the celebration, tossing the rest on the bed as he grabbed up one and a lighter from his pocket. Quickly he lit up, inhaling the sweet smoke into his lungs, and sighed blissfully.
He lay back on his bed, cigarette between his fingers as he rests his head against the stone wall, staring up at the ceiling, idly watching the smoke waft upwards. And as always, his thoughts drifted to -her-.
It'd been just after his mutant powers had manifested. He'd been captured, rounded up, thrown into a detention center in Northbrook. At first he hadn't given a damn. Just one more home for the orphan nobody wanted. But then -she'd- been dragged in, kicking and screaming, her pink blouse torn and her face covered in tears... and she'd been so beautiful. He hadn't believed such a pretty girl could be a mutant. But she was. Later when they were alone in the camp, she showed her gift to him, phasing her hand right through his. He could still feel the tingling sensation.
So he'd formulated a plan, and the two of them had tried to escape. He didn't want her to suffer anymore. They could go and find some quiet place in the mountains, away from humans who prosecuted them. Live their lives in peace together.
But it hadn't happened.
Lance closed his eyes, but the images came anyway. Escaping from the dreadful chain fence and passing through it like it was smoke... being caught in the middle of the road at the Northbrook city limit... Magneto's forces arriving, battle beginning... and then... and then...
Angrily he jammed his cigarette into his wrist, and the pain jarred him back to reality and away from the images.
"I'm sorry Katherine," he whispered into the darkness, taking another long drag of his cigarette. "I said I'd protect you and I failed..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"And now for your enjoyment, ladies and gentlemen... mainly the gentlemen... the one and only, lovely Mystique!" cried out a random voice in the crowd. A cheer rang out from the gathered mutants, as Mystique appeared among them in one of her most alluring forms to date.
Mystique wore a short red top that barely covered her full bosom, as well as a long red skirt that matched, flowing down to her ankles with long slits up either side, allowing tantalizing glimpses of her shapely legs as she moved. That she had blue skin troubled no one, she was beauty incarnate. And the bright red of her hair and clothes seemed to clash purposefully with her skin, drawing more attention to it as she started to dance.
And did she ever dance. Mystique moved like water, every motion fluid and graceful, drawing in the eyes of her admirers. Which included any and all male mutants with functioning eyes and hearts. They'd have to be dead or blind not to watch her. Her hips rolled, her chest shimmied, her flowing skirt whirled around her legs as she danced for them. Then, as she did, she drew a red silk scarf from around her waist, letting it flow around her body, and as it covered her she shifted, altering her form as she danced to another pretty face. And then another, and another. Changing her form as the cloth danced around her, giving everyone present a view of their own personal love goddess.
Finally the dance ended and an exhausted Mystique shifted back to her usual blue scales and red hair, giving a curtsey to her audience as she skipped off back into the fortress, leaving the mutants to their party.
"See you later everyone," she called out in a seductive tone as she slipped out of sight like smoke in the night sky.
"Hey Colossus!" shouted Husk, smacking the giant of a man to get his attention. Poor guy looked like he was going to be drowning in his drool soon. So did most of the other guys present, for that matter. And even some of the girls. Mystique must've had a latent mutant ability to grab people's attention like that.
"Wanna arm wrestle?" she shouted up at Colossus, holding out her arm to demonstrate. She knew his hearing in one ear wasn't very good. He'd been too close to a land mine that'd gone off during a rather bad battle. But he shook his head down at her.
"Oh come on!" she shouted. "You a coward?" That did it. Colossus frowned and grabbed a box, laying it down between himself and Husk with no effort at all, offering her his right arm. "Left arm!" she shouted. "It's no fair if you use your right!"
Reluctantly Colossus changed arms, and Husk grabbed it with her left arm, which was the stronger of her two. They simultaneously counted to three, then began an earnest arm wrestling match, giving it all their strength. By unspoken consent neither was using their powers. Not that Colossus would have much advantage if Husk changed her body to stone or some other hard material. But it was more fun this way.
Spectators cheered, placing bets on the two combatants, though they were mostly for show, nobody really expected to pay up. Money was an evil Magneto had long since done away with, determined that once humanity was gone, his new world would be a paradise unrivalled in all of history. A utopia of mutants.
Apparently, based on the debauchery he was witnessing at the celebration, he had much work to do. But all could be dealt with once the war was over. Sighing, the white-haired leader of the mutant resistance lifted himself up with his power and floated down into the party to locate Pietro. He hadn't been spending much time with his son lately. And since losing Wanda, Pietro was all he had left to remind him of Magda. Human she may've been... but he'd still loved her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Scott and Rogue had found the arboretum with no trouble, no one was around the fortress, most everyone was either at the gathering or had snuck away to their room for some 'quality time' with their significant other.
Suddenly Rogue paused, glancing at a certain violet flower that had caught her attention. Hesitantly, she brushed her gloved hand against it. "Lilacs," she murmured softly. "Carol's favorite flower."
"Are you... are you alright?" asked Scott, sitting down on the bench where he and Rogue had spoken the other day.
"Ah guess... it's kinda weird. Different from the others ah absorbed," she replied, sitting down alongside him.
"How so?"
"It's like... like ah absorbed her completely. Like, we are no longer two individuals and we're just one. Ah can even hear her... in the back of mah mind. Kinda like most people hear a conscience. Only she ain't exactly tryin' to keep me straight an' narrow," she added with a giggle.
"But you're... you're dealing with this... that's good Rogue," he replied, smiling at her. "I was so worried about you."
She smiled over at him warmly. Just like her Scott, she thought, always worried about everyone but themselves. And he looks even cuter with that facial hair, she thought, then pushed the thought down. Where had that come from?
"Rogue," he said softly, regaining her attention.
"Listen, I have something for you... something I gave to the old... to... to my Rogue," he added softly, holding out a strange metal collar of sorts. "It's a mutant restraining collar. It's used in the camps to keep mutants powers under control so we're more docile."
"Why on earth would ah want that?" asked Rogue, disgusted by the very thought of such a device.
"This one was worn by our Rogue to restrain her power... when she wanted to touch," he added meaningfully, offering it to her again.
Hesitantly Rogue accepted the collar and brushed back her long auburn hair, gently snapping it around her neck. It was tight but not uncomfortably so, and pleasantly warm, not cool as she'd expected the metal to be. Scott reached forward and tapped a button on the side, allowing a red light to blink on in the front.
"It's on," he said with a smile. "Go ahead and try it out."
Hesitantly Rogue removed her gloves, reaching out and taking Scott's offered hand in hers. And to her surprise and delight, all she felt was the warmth of his palm. No memories, no powers, no life-force being drained out of his body. She could touch. She'd only felt this wonderful once before in her life, when her powers and that of all mutants had been nullified. It had been a hateful time then, because Scott had been with Jean and she'd been all alone... but now... now...
He must've seen it in her expression, for he smiled, his eyes warm behind his ever present sunglasses. "Go ahead..." he whispered softly, leaning in close.
Rogue's lips sealed against Scott's in her first true, lip to lip kiss (not counting that one time, which Rogue did NOT want to think about). This was, as far as Rogue was concerned, her first kiss. And it was with Scott. Not the Scott she'd known at Bayville High, the Scott that'd drawn her even when he was supposedly her enemy. But it was still Scott... the person for whom, it seemed, she still had a crush on, after all this time.
But then it felt wrong, and Rogue frowned, leaning back to break the kiss. Scott wasn't having any of that, however. His hand gently snaked around her neck, drawing her back in to another one, and she didn't resist... at first... but then his tongue started to slip into her mouth, and she gasped, jerking her head back.
"What the hell are you doing?" she asked, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.
"Just give you what you want," he replied, his voice almost stern. Rogue gasped. This wasn't her Scott... he almost sounded like... like that friend of Cody's. The dark haired one, at the dance where she'd discovered her powers. He voice was full of anger... and hunger. This was confirmed when he tried to draw her back down and kiss her again full on the mouth. She angrily shoved him off the bench and away from her.
"This isn't what ah want, it's what ya'll want," she said with a growl, reaching up to deactivate the collar. Her powers restored, she ripped it off with her bare hands and crumpled it into a useless hunk of metal, throwing it to the ground to prove her point.
"Ah am not your Rogue," she stated, standing up and slipping on her gloves. She started walking as he stood behind her, needing to get out... needing to be alone.
"Rogue! Rogue wait, I'm sorry... Rogue!" he shouted after her.
She paid him no attention... and just kept walking.
Author's Notes:
I warned you about the R rating. And yes I'm aware Rahne and Sam are both under-aged for our universe, but different rules in this one. I'm pretty sure they're both sixteen in Evo. If not, then they are in my story. Besides, it's not so completely unthinkable a concept. In Japan the legal age is fourteen (I'm fairly positive, please correct if glaringly wrong). Again, due to the sensitive nature of my audience I obviously omitted the more graphic details of their act. More insight onto Lance and his relationship with the AU's Kitty. His smoking is actually my way of discrediting the views of some people thinking Evo Lance is a smoker. I simply have no idea where that came from but it seems to be popular, yet never once do we see a cigarette near his mouth (though it is a kids show, I admit). And just a little more of Mystique, based of course on her wildly popular scene from X2 with Wolverine in a tent.
Risty: You're doing fine on the uptake. And darn, here I thought I was being crafty. Ah well, you caught me. But more on that later. Glad you're enjoying the rest of the story and the anticipation of what is to come. I hope you're not disappointed.
Sashi: Magneto's almost always been using Asteroid M like that. I think the only exceptions were in Evo when he wanted to use it to enhance mutants (but invasion likely would've come next) and TAS when it was a mutant sanctuary for those seeking escape from persecution.
Rogue14: Okay no evil. Not too evil, at least. You know me. Big sucker for big sappy endings with families, friends and loved onces reunited and villains moping about. Just the sort of writer I am.
Todd fan: Of course she's an animal. But she and Sam, as you can see above, weren't at the party. Hehehehe. And yes, a device. A mysterious, eeeeevvvviiiillll device. And know what's even more evil? Not gonna tell ya what it is. Gotta guess. Evil.
DoubleL27: Indeed, evil Magneto and his mysterious evil device. Yes, like in a movie. As for Scott, well, perhaps not as noble as the one we all know and love? Nobody's perfect, after all. As for reclaiming and restoration well, you'll see. That comes later. Still a war to fight for now.
Lyranfan: As you can see, its much worse than that. And despite my previous campaign to slay Jean and Remy and reunite Scott and Rogue... I just can't bring myself to do it anymore. Ah well. Hopefully my work is still good no matter what couple I'm writing about. They've all got their cute points.
Nessie6: Oh he's got something rather eeeeevvvviiiillll planned. And yeah, TAS Cyclops pissed me off. So did TAS Jean. And TAS Gambit. Lot's of 'em. But they've managed to all redeem themselves in Evo. Even Gambit. Now the only one I truly hate is Alex. But to each their own. I agree though, leaving Morph behind... bad Cyke, bad.
Comet-hime: You're developing your mutant powers! You can read my mind! Noooo... now the plot is perpetually spoiled for you! Ah well, glad you liked Willow. And that's especially good since she's -your- OC. I must be good if I can write another person's OC. Thank you very much for the super uber mega glomp of doom. Right back at'cha.
Peace215: Well, that soon enough for ya? I try to update quick as I can, honest. And there's more insight into all the couples you said you enjoyed, the Scott/Rogue and the Sam/Rahne. And you even get more insight into... how did you describe him... "cheerful" Lance? Hehe. I'll keep writing, you keep reviewing.