***
Disclaimer – I don't own X-Men: Evolution
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Ever touch the stove when your mother told you not to? When she was cooking something on the stovetop? Curiosity always got the best of you, and the bold reaction of doing something when told not to, and you would touch the stovetop and burn your flesh.
Even in his unconscious state, Remy felt like the flesh covering his hands was burning. He felt like he had done something wrong, like he had touched the stovetop and left his hands there. By the time he reached a conscious state, the burning sensation had slowly started to fade away.
When he opened his eyes, the world to him was blurry. Every time he blinked, he could feel a dull pain in his forehead. He stared up at a white ceiling, which made the surroundings look unfamiliar. He attempted to sit up, only to realize every muscle in his body felt like lead. He felt shaky as he tried to remember what had happened, and that didn't help the throbbing pain located in his head.
"I see you're up." A gentle male voice said. He turned his head to see a furry blue man, who looked like a blue gorilla, standing less than a foot away from the bed he was rested upon. The man just chuckled at the reaction. "My name is Hank McCoy. I believe you're Remy.." He looked down at a chart he was holding with his large hand. "Lebeau." He looked up at him and smiled. "Welcome to Xavier's institute."
"Institute?" The Cajun asked, uncertain. He just stared at Hank as if he were insane. "I'm in a institute? Asylum?"
"Not quite, Mr. Lebeau." The impact of the spoke words hit him hard. Reality soon set in and he remembered what had happened.
"Rogue—" He asked, feeling his heart start to race. "Where is Rogue?" He looked around the room, as if to see her somewhere in there. "Where is she?" He raised his voice, he became angry. Before Hank could say anything, he let out a short cry of pain and looked down at his hands. They were a glowing red. "What's happenin' to me?" The pain became unbearable, he felt as if his hands were about to explode.
"Take this." Hank handed him a pen from his chart. "Just release the energy into it." The young man did as ordered. He placed the pen behind his hands. The glowing color went from his hands to the pen. "Throw it, now!" And he did. Within a few seconds the pen exploded. Remy just sat there, confused on what was happening.
"Welcome to my institute, Remy." A bald man, in a wheelchair, wheeled into the room.
"An institute for what?"
"Mutants."
Remy stared at the man as if he had grown hair, or another head. "Screw this, I'm goin' back to bed."
***
Irene just stood there as the man placed her suitcase into the black limo outside her house. Don't have much time. She realized, the visions circulating inside her head. I must get out there as quickly as possible.
"Why are you leaving, Destiny? This wasn't our deal." A black cat walked over to her, stood next to her feet and transformed into a blue skinned woman. She had red hair and white eyes, no pupils.
"The future has changed its course." The blind woman explained, looking straight ahead. "There's nothing we can do now, Mystique."
"How is she?" Mystique hissed through clenched teeth. "You said this move would be better. I even let you bring that, t-that stupid Cajun with you and—"
"That 'Stupid Cajun' will play a big role in Rogue's future."
"So she's going to be okay?"
"Not for long."
***
"I can help you control your powers." Charles Xavier said, sitting across from Remy who just stared down at Xavier's hands, which formed a steeple like structure. It distracted him. "But it is your decision. I'd prefer it if you stayed here until you at least could control your powers." He smiled at him. "You do have an incredible gift."
"Gift?" Remy spat, with a smirk. "Sure, if that's what you want to call it."
"Maybe you would like to look into a mirror." A young woman, with vibrant red hair, walked over to where Remy was sitting. A mirror was clutched in her hand.
"Why?" He asked, staring at her. "Did I grow a third eye? Lose my hair? Grow another head?"
She frowned at him. "You could have a better attitude."
"Well, Maybe if someone would tell me—"
"Calm down." Xavier cut him off. "Your powers are connected with your emotions right now."
"Then if you don't tell me where Rogue is I will blow his place up." He smirked when Jean rolled her eyes. "Don't believe me?" He lowered his voice and looked down at his hands. "Try me."
"She was hurt in the explosion." Xavier said, hesitating. "While you survived with only a gash on your forehead—" He pointed to Remy's forehead, where the cut was stitched up. "She suffered a head injury."
Remy just stared at him. He felt like someone had punched him in the stomach. "Where is she?"
"Bayville hospital."
"I'm out of here." He walked towards the door. Jean grabbed his arm, to stop him, but he jerked away. "Don't touch me."
"Wait—" She called again. This time he stopped. She handed him the mirror. He sighed as he brought it up, face level. He dropped the mirror. It fell to the ground and shattered into pieces.
"What happened to me?"
"It's a part of your mutation. I believe your powers—"
"I'm out of here."
"Wait--!" The red head called out again. She took out a pair of sunglasses from her pocket and telekinetically flew them over to him. They bounced off the back of his head. He turned around and stared down at them. He picked up the sunglasses and slipped them on.
***
"What room is Rogue Darkholme in?" Remy asked, walking up to the service desk.
The woman behind the desk typed on her keyboard. She glanced at the screen and then at him. "She's located in ICU. If you want to know what room, you have to go up there."
"Yeah, okay." He mumbled, walking away from the desk. He stopped when he got to the elevator. "Floor?" He asked.
"Third." She called back.
***
"What room is Rogue Darkholme in?" Remy asked a nurse the minute he got onto the third floor. The nurse walked over to the service station and glanced at a few charts.
"She's restricted on visitors. Her guardian, Irene Addler, requested them. What's your name?"
"Remy." With his mind racing, he had to think about his last name. "Lebeau."
"Ah, yes. She left a note for you." She handed him a folded sheet of white paper. "I'll be right back, I need to check on a patient."
He shrugged at her words and opened the paper. He read the words carefully, 'Remy, I know what happened. Right now I think it is best if I leave. It's for the best. Not now, but in the near future, you will see why. Irene.' He read it over again, and mumbled a few words in French. How could she leave..?
"I'll take you to her." The nurse he had seen earlier walked up behind him. "But please, only a few minutes." She brought him to a closed door and opened it up. The room was dark. The only thing that could be heard was a soft beeping noise. The nurse switched on the light, and when she did, Remy's heart stopped.
Rogue laid on the bed, her eyes closed. Dark circled formed around her eyes. She had an I.V. attached to her arm, a liquid flowing into her. She was attached to a heart monitor, and some other machine he couldn't identify. She looked a lot paler than usual. She looked so lifeless, Remy noticed; she looked so young.
"Merde." He mumbled, shaking his head. "Mon dieu. Her condition.."
"Coma." The nurse said, feeling surprised as she looked up at him. "You didn't know?"
"Well, I do now." He snapped, walking closer to her. He wanted to held her hand, but when he reached for it, his mind screamed at him, telling him that he was the blame for this, he put her here, that he would hurt her again.
"It's okay." The woman smiled at him.
"No." He turned around, avoiding eye contact with her. "It's not." With a heavy sigh, he left the room.
***
He had no place to go. Irene was gone, and he didn't have a home in New Orleans anymore. The realization of it hit Remy as he walked down the street in the rain. The image of Rogue was still fresh in his mind. He tore off the sunglasses and threw them on the ground. He sighed and ran a hand through his wet hair. He didn't have any other choice then to go back to Xavier's institute.
***
"This is your room." Xavier announced, stopping in front of a closed door. Remy just stared at the door, remembering when the door to where Rogue was had been opened. "Go ahead." Charles smiled up at him. Ororo, an African American woman with white hair, stood behind the Professor carrying a rectangle shaped box. Remy hesitated as he opened the door and walked into the room. It looked more like a guest room, with a bed, dresser, closest, but it had a balcony. He smirked at that. "Now that you're a part of this school, I hope you will obey the rules." Xavier said, eyeing the smirk.
"Oui, of course." He remembered that Xavier was a telepath, and you couldn't really lie to them.
"This is your uniform." Ororo smiled at him as she handed him the box. He set it down on the bed and opened it. He took it out and made a face. It was a dark blue color with red shoulder pads that had a black X sewn on. There was a yellow belt in the box, the buckle had the same pattern.
"Spandex?" He said, touching the material. A memory from just the other day flooded his mind. "I have a feelin' some day you're going to be a spandex wearing crime fightin' super-hero." He set it back down in the box. "Sorry, but I can't wear that."
"I understand." Xavier said just as Jean entered the room wearing her uniform. "You will also have danger room sessions every morning, twice a day on weekends."
"They're not so bad." Jean smiled at him but it faded when Remy gave her a bizarre look.
"Why are you wearin' a thong outside the spandex?" He asked, feeling confused as he stared at the green triangle going down her uniform.
She glared at him, offended. "My name is Jean Grey." He realized she was the red head from earlier. "What happened to the sunglasses?" He also noticed she avoided any actual eye contact with him.
He shrugged, remembering how he threw them down outside in the rain. "Lost 'em."
"Oh well. They were Scott's. He really can't use those kind anyway."
"Scott?"
"You will meet the others before dinner." Xavier said, looking down at his watch. "Which will be in a half hour. We'll leave you alone, let you get settled in."
Remy just grunted. At least he would be alone.
***
A few of the mutants at dinner looked familiar. He recognized the German kid and the perky Brunette from P.E.
"You're the guy from my gym class! My name is Kitty!" She grinned at him, holding out her hand over the dinner table.
"Don't scare him, Kitty." Jean said, with a forced laugh. She looked around the table. Mostly everyone had introduced himself or herself. "So, Remy, how was your friend?"
Remy looked up from his plate at her. "She's in a coma."
"I'm sorry to hear that. I hope she wakes up soon."
"If she doesn't, that means I killed her."
Before Jean could say anything else, Xavier stopped her. "You didn't expect your powers to manifest. It isn't your fault. I'm sure she will be fine."
"And if she isn't?" His red eyes started to glow. If Rogue died, he was a killer. He killed his best friend. His only friend. The one person who truly cared about him.
"Remy, your fork!"
He looked down to see his fork glowing with kinetic energy. He threw it up in the air, a few students scrambled to get out of their seats. Jean set up a telekinetic shield to block the ones at the table from the small explosion. Remy jolted up from the table.
"I'm goin' to my room." No one said anything.
***
No one bothered him for the rest of the night. For that, he was glad. It was the last thing he wanted. He just laid on his bed, on top of the covers. He wasn't an X-Men. He didn't want to wear any stupid spandex uniform. It just wasn't him. The Cajun just laid there, his arms folded behind his head. It wasn't until about eleven o'clock when there came a knocking at his door. The woman with the white hair, Ororo, he believed her name was, walked in.
"Charles would like to see you."
***
"Oui?" He asked, dragging his feet into Xavier's office. "You want somethin', homme?"
"I have news about your friend."
His heart skipped a beat. "And?"
"She's gained consciousness." He smiled at him. "The swelling of her brain went down. She's going to be okay."
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Part 2 complete: November 23, 2003