Correction—In the beginning of the last chapter, I put Mastermind instead of Mesmero. Whoops. I now shall admit I am deeply in love with Mastermind, who looks like he starred in Planet of the Apes, which is why I typed it out instead. Yeah, right.
Since I seem to be losing reviewers, I've decided to give out free TVs to my gullible readers! Just send your address to…
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Rogue felt like she was floating. Not flying, just floating in an ocean of darkness. Everything just felt so peaceful and calm. Suddenly a foul odor carelessly encircled her, engulfing her in its revolting aroma.
"Rogue."
Oh, and now the repulsive odor was talking to her. Had she lost her mind? Perhaps, but for now, that's another story. Her eyes slowly opened to see Remy hovering above her with a concern look planted on his face.
Okay, so the sickening aroma wasn't talking to her. Anyone could make that mistake. Shut up, they could and you know it.
"You all right?" He asked softly, his jaw tightening as he brushed free strands of hair off her face and behind her ear.
"Where are we?" She asked, ignoring his question due to the fact that the smell was completely nauseating and stomach churning.
"The sewer." Remy answered naturally, as if it were perfectly normal to be in a sewer.
"Why the hell did you bring us to a sewer?" She sat up, scrunching her face together in confusion.
His face slightly deadpanned. Right. Like he carried her into a sewer. Not exactly the place he would want to—never mind. "I didn't. You did."
"Why would I bring us to a sewer?"
He gently tapped her forehead. "Beats me. I don't know what goes on in there."
She made a face at him. "Shouldn't we be getting back to the institute? I mean, with our short disappearance.." She trailed off when she noticed the look on his face. "What?"
"Rogue, we can't go back."
Her brows arched up. "And why not?"
He ignored her question, thinking she was messing around. "How's your shoulder?"
Rogue's expression became blank and after half a second, she blinked. "It's all right." Her eye twitched as she tried to remember what had happened, and only remembered seeing Jean push her towards flames. "Why do I feel like I'm in an episode of the Twilight Zone?"
"Because everyone gets their own Twilight Zone episode." He helped her to her feet. "C'mon, lets get out of here. But lets walk.."
"I can tele—"
"That's quite all right. But Rogue.. are you.."
"Am I what?" She asked, raising a brow. He stared at her with a perplexed look. She leaned in. "Are you..?"
"'Are you' what?" Remy leaned in closer.
"Are you.. a murderer? A kidnapper? A stalker?" Rogue asked as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Is there something you need to tell me?"
"Yes. I think you're feverish."
"Who are you two?" A voice suddenly snapped. Rogue and Remy turned their heads to see an African American teenager standing there. His body was covered in plated spikes. He looked and sounded very teen angst-y. He was clutching his neck as he stared at them with angry eyes. He had blonde hair that was shaped weird.
Rogue's jaw dropped. "Holy crap, it's Sisco."
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"Well, if it isn't the worlds strongest telepath; Charles Xavier." Trask smirked down at the bald man who had his hands tied to the metal bars long side the stretcher he was on.
"You're not going to get away with this." He started feeling drowsy from being injected with a tranquilizer.
"I already have, Charles, I already have."
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He eyed Remy and seemed to approve with his appearance but glared at Rogue. "Leave here. Now." It sounded like a threat. Perhaps it was meant as one.
"Don't worry about it." Rogue unwrapped her arms from around Remy's neck. "Sorry to intrude on your home. But before we go can you give me some of your fabulous interior decorating secrets? And what's that fabulous smell? Year old fish with a hint of rotting—"
"Rogue." Remy warned, grabbing her wrist. "Don't." Her sudden change of attitude was certainly an eyebrow lifter. "The place we were staying at was attacked by.." He trailed off, not certain of how to describe it. "We're hiding out."
"What are you saying? We weren't attacked." Rogue bit down on her lower lip. "Jean just went a psycho." Short pause. "I think."
"Jean? Jean Grey from Xavier's institute?" The young man suddenly said, his eyes widening as he griped his arm. "My Aunt, she's an instructor there."
"Ororo?" Rogue asked as the light shined through the clouds in her mind. "You're Devon!"
"Evan." He corrected, clearing his throat. "What happened? Is everything all right?"
"No." Remy spoke up, glancing down at the sullied ground. "Everything isn't."
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"Get a sedative in here stat!"
"Let me out!" Wanda yelled, struggling to escape from the straps that held her unwillingly against the metal table. She could feel her hex powers fading away inside of her. Things surrounding her were shaking violently. As long as she could keep it up, she would continue to fight, to struggle, to escape. The lights flickered. A needle pierced her skin. The sedating fluid entered her. The lights flickered again. She screamed. The lights flickered. Her scream soon faded. The lights flickered for the last time.
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"So, Spyke, can I take a guess why ya took that codename?" Rogue asked, poking a spike with her gloved index finger. "Were ya born with these li'l things? God bless your mother."
He huffed, annoyed by her rude actions. He tugged a ringlet of white hair. "This natural? Were you born being so obnoxious? God bless your mother."
Rogue's eyes flashed with anger. She brought her hand up to her face, bit down on excess glove material and slid her hand out of it. "I'll show you obnoxious!" She raised her arm, ready to absorb his spiked arse.
"Ah-ah-ah!" Remy grabbed Rogue's elbow from behind. "Play nice, Roguey."
"Fine." She jerked her arm out of his grip and slipped her glove back on and glanced over at Spyke. "What's your problem anyway? Ororo practically praised you." The Southerner eyed him. "You looked different in the pictures."
"My x-gene was affected by Power8." He snapped at her. She took a step back. "We thought we got rid of it but we didn't."
"'We'?" Remy asked, sensing anger, guilt and sadness washing over the younger male.
"The Mortlocks."
"Yeah, Ororo said somethin' about them. So where is your little gang of abnormally mutated mutants?" Rogue asked, not seeming to care too much about any of this.
"They're dead."
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A man in a white lab coat took out a syringe as he entered a room.
"Aw man." The fuzzy blue mutant groaned, "What are you guys doing to me?" He asked in a drowsy German slur.
The man ignored him and glanced over at the orderly who was writing something down on a chart. "Is it time?"
The other male shook his head. "He still has three more 'weakening' treatments, besides, Trask wants a full report before you stick 'em with the serum."
'The serum'? Kurt flinched at those words. What serum? He pondered, looking out of one eye. Why can't I teleport? He asked himself, half expecting an answer. And why am I not hungry?
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Rogue shivered as she leaned against the wall. She wrapped her arms around herself and kept her eyes on the ground. She averted her eyes from Spyke and Remy. "What's Power8?" She asked, not bothering to look up at them.
"A sports drink."
A smirk curved on her lips. "Death by a sports drink?"
Evan ignored her statement and explained how some guy named Guy Spears released a sport drink that harmed mutants. He said that the Professor told him about it and supposedly the guy stopped production of the drink. He then went on about how a month ago, chemicals were released into the sewage, weakening them. Before they knew it, they slowly started getting sick and eventually, one by one, they died. Right as he finished, Spyke buckled over in a coughing fit.
Rogue glanced over at him, her eyes narrowing at him. "You've been inflected with it."
"It's not contagious."
"How do you know?" She asked, taking a step forward. "How do you know you haven't spread this mutant killing disease over to us?"
"Because it has to be injected into your body and into your bloodstream. It only affects individuals with the x-gene." He snapped at her.
"You have blood all over your mouth." Rogue said quietly. She stared at him, the cold look in her eyes softened. "You're dying."
"Can't get anything past you."
"Lord. Do you have a spike shoved up your arse o' what?"
Once again, he ignored her. "After we were weakened, we were captured, got stuck with something and released back here with blank memories from what had happened during the abduction."
"Yet you never went to the institute for help?" Rogue questioned, not buying it.
"It was too late."
"This is a bunch of bull!"
He shot a spike out at her. It whizzed past her head and stuck itself to the wall. Remy immediately pushed him up against a wall. "Don't try that again. You hurt her and I make sure you die a whole lot faster. Right now all I can promise is that we'll find out whoever is doing this?"
Spyke stared at him. He knew somehow they would probably manage, but at what cost? "I bet. But for the stake of which one of your lives?" Remy glanced back at Rogue, unsure of what to say.
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"First, we weaken your body." Trask smirked down at Charles who was strapped to a metal table. He took out a syringe and injected the sedating fluids into his blood stream. "Then we inject a chemical into your blood stream that has some deadly side effects. All-in-all Xavier, mutants will soon be a thing of the past."
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Don't like Spyke? That's nice. Neither do I but I don't care. He'll be gone by the end of this segment.
Answers to reviews:
Ishandahalf Dun dun dun. Not much action, sadly. Can't write that. But there is Dun dun dun! Steph Silverstar does this count as a cliffie? But yes, haha! Cliffies to go around! :D Persona the ITG Your review made me crack up. :) My mind came up with some wacky suggestions other than a sewer.. *wink* Goldylokz *gives you a thing of eye drop thingers* Sorry about your eyes. :P I'm UBER happy you like this fic! I got all giddy when you review because I love your work. 3 Squirrels are funny! Three years ago I had to write a report on several different kinds of animals, and I picked squirrels and for where they could be found I put something like, "they can be found in trees and sometimes in the middle of the street" get it? blck fire Yay for intense but awesome! 8) cool-chick-rae AHHH! I 3 NICKELBACK! 3 3 3 Roguechere It was rather inconsiderate, eh? But it was either that or get captured. And I couldn't have that! After all, I need the two for several more chapters THEN they may get captured and run off and what not. ^_^ Hope ye liked this chapter! Rogue4787 As Simba said, "I laugh in the face of danger, HA HA HA." Of course then he screamed and ran off or something. I haven't seen the Lion King in years so just ignore that part. I can't get too serious without adding some humor, which all-in-all works out. ^^ Thanks for taking the time to review, y'all!