"Let's see. What you already know," stated Amanda quietly, sitting herself down cross-legged on a thick cushion on the floor. Rogue, frowning, sat down cross-legged across from her. "You are familiar with the fact that this is an alternate dimension. You... you do know what that means, do you not?" she inquired.
"Ah think so," replied Rogue.
"Allow me to explain in case you have missed any key details," replied Amanda, placing her hand upon the ground between them. Gently she traced on the ground a line with her finger. A pale green line lit up where her finger moved. She added a second, parallel line, then had it curve sharply to join the first.
"This first line," she said, tracing it as she spoke to Rogue. "Consider it your timeline. Example... big bang, earth, dinosaurs, extinction, Egypt, world war two... you," she stated, pointing at continual points along the line. "Events that occurred in a certain order. Each affecting the event after it, shaping the universe you exist in. Or rather, did exists in."
Rogue nodded dimly. The knowledge wasn't entirely unfamiliar, so she was able to absorb it with little trouble this time. Plus, Amanda's voice had a soothing quality to it. Kurt had once confided to her that Amanda's voice sometimes calmed him when he was frightened. It was certainly working now.
"Now, at each microsecond of existence, there exists a choice," Amanda continued, tapping the part where the two lines joined. "And each choice... creates a new world. A new universe. And there are more universes... than there are stars in the heavens," remarked Amanda, drawing additional lines, until it seemed more like a spiders' web than a few lines.
"And something happened to change this world."
"Of course not," replied Amanda with a wistful smile. "All these worlds exist as they are, and simply are. Our world has a future, a past, a present, the same as yours. There is nothing any more wrong with our world than there is with yours. Save one small thing."
"Me," replied Rogue softly.
"Yes. My teacher theorized, based on Destiny's vision, that Wanda's powers were the catalyst. Since they by their very nature alter the foundation of the universe she exists in... having them turned on themselves was enough to alter existence itself. Jean's shield kept you at the center of this alteration... and that transported you here. However, you cannot remain here, Rogue," she added, her voice becoming more concerned. "Doing so might severely disrupt the nature existence of both your universe and our own. Whatever has already changed because of this is of no consequence, but you must be returned to fulfill your role in your own world. Therefore, I will have to send you back," she stated firmly, gesturing with her hand. The green lines faded and vanished.
"You can do that...? You have that sort of power?" asked Rogue.
"Not at the moment," replied Amanda carefully.
"Not at the moment?" asked Rogue, confused.
Amanda stood, making her way around Rogue and past her bed, sidestepping and overstepping clutters of books and things that lay on the floor, reaching out to examine some of the things that lay on one of the nearby shelves.
"The Winding Way is very complicated magic... even my mentor, Agatha Harkness, was never able to master it completely. Because we are not masters of it, but it of us. The world and the elements around us influence our power. As it stands now, I am not strong enough to pierce the borders between planes."
"Oh..." replied Rogue.
"Fret not," replied Amanda with a soft smile. "I can prepare a spell to return you home in... well, perhaps no more than a week. The new moon will rise, and the stars will be in proper alignment. You and I have both been fortunate in this regard, Rogue."
Rogue nearly bounced to her feet in excitement. She was going home! She was going home! She felt as giddy as Kitty on a sugar rush.
"Ah... ah don't know what to say," replied Rogue, her eyes moist with tears of joy.
"A simple thank you will suffice," replied Amanda, giving the normally sullen goth a gentle hug. Rogue returned it warmly.
"Thank you."
And she meant it, from the bottom of her heart.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rogue emerged form the hut moments later, to see Cyclops and Colossus waiting for her. The door shut behind her gently.
"Well?" asked Scott.
"DayTripper is able to send me home... but she needs a week to properly prepare her magic. She uhm... she said I shouldn't stay here however because... well things are dangerous for her and she doesn't want me involved."
"You can remain with us," replied Scott. "A week shouldn't be too long."
"Thanks Scott," she said, giving him a hug then walking past him and the big, silent comrade. They followed after her. Scott shook his head. Magneto was going to be furious with him for allowing this. Still, if he could delay the plan for a week, then Rogue'll be gone and safe, and nothing Magneto could do. Scott could live with that.
But he wasn't sure his heart was going to survive another breaking. It was still mending from last time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So it was that Rogue, Cyclops, and Colossus returned to the mutant fortress. By now it was late, and most of the mutants had finally managed to rouse themselves and return to their regular duties. Thankfully, Magneto had been conferring with Mindbender all day, and had been unaware of Cyclops's excursion.
Rogue returned to her... to Carol's... quarters, finding solace. She only had a week left in this world. But, she supposed, that didn't mean it needed to be terrible. She might actually be of big help here. With her knowledge and experience, as well as Carol's powers, she could be useful. But she wanted nothing more to do with battle. She couldn't stand killing people. And she now had newfound respect for the horrors the Wolverine and X23 from her universe must've gone through. She'd gone through some of them herself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, in London.
Façade held his breath. The slightest movement, the slightest indication he was there... and he was a dead mutant.
No mutant had before managed to infiltrate the Council's secret meetings and discover their plans. Shapeshifters were unable to impersonate their leaders. They were given blood tests before and after their meetings to check for x-genes. Teleportation, intangibility, they'd not managed to get inside of the room because of resonance shielding. And no member of the Council was ever allowed anywhere without a protective band around their head that screened their thoughts from telepaths. That and, of course, the fact that the place was a virtual Fort Knox.
But Façade had managed to do the impossible. He'd gotten in and, more importantly, he intended to get out.
Slowly, tentatively, he inched forward along the ceiling, clinging to the surface with his bare hands and feet. Another side effect of his mutation, in addition to his camouflage. A fortunate camouflage that encompassed him and anything he happened to be wearing or holding that was inorganic. He was surprised he didn't wind up with a more repulsive mutant name like Gecko. As it was, Magneto had given him an mysterious name.
Now if only he could live up to his reputation and escape with the information.
And god, what information. It was vital to the war effort that he let the commanders... no, Magneto himself... know this information as soon as possible. If he didn't.
He didn't even want to consider the possibility.
Slowly, hanging upside down on the ceiling, he crept over the head of the armed soldiers, very careful to keep his breathing slow and soft. It was hard, with his heart beating so fast. He could swear they could hear him. But thankfully they hadn't yet.
The door beneath him opened, and another soldier slipped out of the bathroom. Quickly, carefully, and quietly, Façade slipped in along the ceiling before the door slammed shut across his foot. He'd done it. He'd escaped. Quickly he peered around, but no one was left in the soldier's men's room. And... ah, an open window! Big enough for him to fit no less! Fate favored Façade today, as he slipped out of the building.
Now the worst was behind him. But he wasn't out of the woods yet. He had to move.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back in Bayville.
Cyclops made his way to find Magneto, dismissing Colossus. The big mute, never the most sociable of people, went where he usually spent most of his downtime. In his room. Alone.
He wasn't unfriendly, not by any stretch of the imagination. If someone needed his help he was always the first to put his considerable strength at their disposable. But he was quiet, had always been even before he'd lost his voice. And his eyes always held their gaze too long. He saw too much, saw too deeply. Thus, he didn't make friends among his fellow mutants easily.
Illyana would've, he thought. But she wasn't with them anymore.
Colossus idly lay down on his bunk, drawing out a pad and a pencil. Normally in short supply (most things were practically handled by the computers or Cerebro), he'd managed to keep the ones he had since the beginning of the war, and kept them in reasonably good condition despite the rough and tumble way of the keep. He knew Quicksilver, Avalanche, Iceman, Berzerker, and countless others had all lost someone close to them, same as he had. They had their own ways to deal with it. Quicksilver never spent a night in his bed without some sort of female companionship, unless he was too dead-tired from fighting. Iceman usually did the same, substituting a bottle of hard liquor on the nights when Quicksilver stole his girl. Berzerker kept busy with his work. Avalanche worked out his aggression physically. Either doing push-ups or burying troops in landslides.
Colossus drew.
He put pencil to paper and he created, allowing his hands and his eyes to guide him. Already some of his works could be seen as he flipped through the sketchpad. Illyana, their parents, a profile of their lord Magneto, a sunset. Pictures of hope and warm memories. This was how he dealt with the darkness of the world, how he dealt with the horror of the war. How he dealt with the shame.
He'd been her big brother, and he'd failed her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And so life for the mutants went on. For another two days without incident. Rogue did her share of helping, but thankfully no more battles were fought. It was as Magneto had said, the humans had abandoned Bayville and given it to the mutants. Rogue had, as she'd said, forgiven Scott, but the two of them hardly saw each other. Things were too awkward now. So it was that Rogue again spent most of her free time with Willow in the arboretum.
That and learning how to master her newfound powers. The memories of Carol helped a lot in that regard. And it gave Rogue the almost childlike joy of learning how to fly. After all, what kid had never dreamed of being able to fly. Jean had once confided to Rogue how she'd felt when she'd first done it. And now Rogue could totally understand. She felt almost giddy. The world that had first seemed like a nightmare now seemed like a pleasant dream.
And the days passed in relative peace.
Until...
Author's Notes:
Now all makes sense. I hope. Well most of it at least. At least the stuff about the Winding Way and Rogue's trip and everything. So now, like 'Infection', we have something close to a deadline. Can't miss her trip home. Kinda makes you wonder what surprise I have in store for the dimensional slider. Also decided on a little tiny insight with Façade and Colossus. Façade's mission and the information he's retrieved will become apparently later on in the story. Illyana is, of course, his little sister, in the comicverse known by the mutant alias of 'Magik.' Sorceress and teleporter, kinda like Kurt.
DoubleL27: Is that doubt I hear? You doubt that I shall wrap this all up in a nice happy ending? Well there should be, I'm very evil after all, but I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. But yes, that was who you think it was. You'll get to see him in more detail shortly.
Sashi: You can always save the reviews for when you're not tired, you know. But I'm glad you're enjoying the story, as always. Plenty more to come soon.
Spectra2: Cookies! Reviews! Mmmm… delicious reviews. More please.
Risty: And I here I was worried no one would believe those kids would be made into super human soldiers. Yup, mother of all battles. A big one. With sentinels and superhumans and evil mutants. Oh my. *snicker*. Afoot is a fun word. I prefer aloof. It's a better word. Think about it.
The-unnamable666: I try to show both sides of any sort of conflict, tell both stories, what have you. That's why I like Evo so much, all the characters are realistic and the bad guys aren't just two-dimensional evil villains. They've got personalities.
Todd fan: You know you're absolutely right. How could I have forgotten that. Ah stupid me. Ummmm… they changed it in my AU to just England! Said screw Wales and Scotland! Seriously though I apologize, I should've realized that. And I call myself british… bad Rurouni Tyriel.
X00001: Ah, the rebirth project. Looking forward to seeing superhumans in action, are we? Soon enough, soon enough. Plenty more good things to come as well for your enjoyment. Now my only fear is not being able to top this story with my next one.
Star-of-Chaos: Scott kills Duncan, Jean kills Taryn, something like that? Hmmmm… maybe. I doubt it though, but rest assured AU Duncan will receive a most unpleasant, and likely messy, end.
Nessie6: Mass produced indeed. 'They don't mean it like that.' 'They never do, at first…' Muwahahaha. I love referring back to old Evo episodes people tend to forget. Appeals to the fans. As for Gambit, you're forgiven. At least she turned you towards the light. That light being X-Men, of course. Hehe.
Terminatrix T-X: Indeed it was a good dancing scene. Mystique is most definitely the most sensual X-woman in the whole Marvel universe. No one can possibly top her (figuratively speaking, hehe).