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A/N:I know, I know, Z'cann, the Skrull who made Rogue's powers go haywire, was female, but I'm taking some liberties here! Artistic license, dude!
I'm also making Irene Adler aka Destiny more powerful to enable the Brotherhood to have equal footing with the X-Men in finding new recruits. I mean, come on. What chance would they have against the Cerebro?
Oh, and I've decided Kurt is a Wagner (because that's the name of his dad) but he was raised by Mystique. Rogue, on the other hand, was with Irene in Mississippi until her powers manifested because Mystique wanted to keep her hidden from the eyes of Xavier (who would be suspicious as to why Mystique adopted a random kid). OK, OK, Kurt occasionally visited.
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Chapter 2*
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Rogue panted heavily as she pushed the vines and branches off her path as she blindly ran forward. "Momma!" She called out in desperation.Barely a week in the Brotherhood Boarding House, barely even getting along with Magneto's children, her adopted mother, Mystique, chose her to join them on a reconnaissance mission.
Rogue's guardian, Irene Adler, had foreseen that an unknown power would be unlocked in the forest of Australia.
Magneto, the invisible hand that moves their little team, wanted whatever power that was, and Mystique was only too happy to oblige.
Rogue had wandered off while Mystique investigated the premises. What Rogue didn't know was how easy it was to get lost in the place.
She tried calling out again.
"This is hopeless," she grumbled as she adjusted the gloves on her hand. A lot of help her powers were.
Rogue frowned. She thought she heard something. She shrugged. Must be wishful thinking.
Wait! There it was again!
Abruptly changing directions, she cautiously walked towards the source of the sound.
Parting a particularly thick vegetation, she gasped as she saw a man lying facedown on the ground.
She gasped as she took off to a running start. "Sir!" She called out. "Sir! Are you OK?" She knelt down beside him. She turned him so that he would be lying on his back. "Mister! Hey, mister!"
The man groaned. He opened his eyes slowly. "Where am I?"
"You're alive!" Rogue exclaimed.
The man shoved her away. "You!"
Rogue frowned. "Sir?"
"Get away from me," he said he tried to push her away. Unfortunately, he accidentally touched her bare face.
Rogue screamed.
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"Rogue! Rogue!"
Rogue's eyes flew open.
"Rogue! Are you alright?" Wanda asked with a frown as she sat down on Rogue's bed. "You were screaming in your sleep."
Rogue sat back up. She tiredly rubbed her eyes. "I had that dream again," she blew out a breath in an attempt to control her breathing. "I'm OK now."
"Go back to sleep." Wanda told her as she stood up and made her way towards her own bed. "We still have school tomorrow."
Rogue groaned. "Don't remind me."
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"Gross!"
Rogue and Wanda sat on the living room couch, watching the Discovery Channel in morbid fascination.
"I didn't know bullfrogs eat each other," Rogue commented, disgusted beyond belief but unable to turn her eyes away from the scene before her.
Lance walked in the room. "Girls," he called out.
Wanda glared at him. "Girls?"
"Er, ladies!" He amended. "I meant ladies. Ladies, Mystique wants us to assemble," he said dramatically.
Rogue rolled her eyes. "Right behind you, sugah."
Wanda and Rogue followed Lance into a room where Irene Adler was sitting. She would have looked normal except for the large contraption that she was sitting on. It looked like a very expensive chair, only, it was not made of leather or what not, but of metals and machines.
The chair was dubbed by the teen mutants as the Destiny Machine, a contraption that amplifies the precog's powers a hundredfold, pretty much similar to how the Cerebro amplifies Xavier's.
"Irene found a new mutant," Mystique explained as she stood beside Irene. "And she also saw that Xavier would be leaving soon to recruit someone else."
"The mutant has amphibian-like powers, like a frog or a toad, I am not sure." Irene said. "He has the lower body strength, the dexterity," she gave a rare smile. "He even has the tongue."
Rogue elbowed Wanda. "Remember the bullfrogs?"
"I cannot see the mutant Xavier is interested in very clearly," Irene continued. "Though I can point you in the direction he and his team will be going to,"
"Peitro and Lance," Mystique said. "One of you would recruit the mutant. The other must follow Xavier and find out the newest addition to his collection. I trust that you will not fail?"
Pietro and Lance both nodded.
"Dibs on Xavier," Pietro said quickly.
Lance made a face, not at all excited to recruit a frog-like creature.
"And Kurt's with me on this one," Pietro added, not wanting to be stuck on a mission with his sister.
"I guess the gir—I mean ladies—are with me," Lance sighed. Great. A frog, a witch, and a mutant with powers she could barely control. This is going to be one fun mission.
"Have you found Magneto yet?" Mystique asked as Irene tiredly rubbed her temples.
Irene shook her head. She had been searching for Magneto in the future when she detected a future disturbance to be caused by a young mutant toad. "I will find him." The blind mutant assured the shape shifter. "After all, no one can escape destiny."
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Rogue frowned as she stealthily crept forward. The moment they arrived in their destination, Lance immediately suggested that they split up to cover more ground and find the mutant.
She crouched down as she saw Lance already walking on the path leading towards the old and rickety house, ready to provide assistance at the slightest hint of trouble.
She was so intent on watching that she didn't hear someone move behind her until it was too late. A gloved palm covered her mouth as an arm snaked its way around her waist.
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"Sheesh," Lance muttered as he knocked on the door of the house that was in a bad need of repair. He knocked again when no one answered.
The place gives him the creeps, but he was secured in the knowledge that Wanda and Rogue were hidden somewhere, watching his back.
"Hello!" Lance called out as he knocked again. He turned the knob. He grimaced when he saw that his hand was now covered in slime of some sort from the knob. "Great," he shook his head. But he did learn that the door was opened. He swung open the door and almost fainted at the smell that assaulted him.
"Like, ew!" Someone from behind him complained.
Lance whirled around. "Kitty?"
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"'Allo, petite," a deep, husky voice whispered in Rogue's ear.
Rogue would've groaned had not a hand been on her mouth. What would Mystique say? Her protégé had allowed someone to sneak up behind her and take her by surprise. She tried to tap into her powers, rather into Magneto's powers, the one her mother was currently training her to control.
Suddenly, Gambit was thrown backwards when a magnetic shield formed itself around Rogue.
"Finally," he though he heard Rogue mutter.
"Remy knows what you mean, cher," he said. "'M sorry you had to wait, but Gambit had to ditch his teammates before he can meet you here,"
"That's not what I meant, Swamp Rat," she snapped at him. She was referring to her finally accessing Magneto's powers. She was mad, not at him but at herself. "What are you doing here?" She asked suspiciously.
"Right now? Looking at the most belle femme in New York,"
"I'm flattered," she waved her arms dismissively. "Just don't Lil' Miss Grey hear ya, lovah, or she'll kick your cute lil' behind back to the swamps you came from."
Remy smirked. "Jealous, cher?"
"Sure, sugah. Whatever rocks your boat." She then held out her hand as a piece of cable that was harmlessly lying around started to wrap itself around Gambit.
"Bondage," he grinned seductively at her. "Bit kinky for a first date, don't you think?"
Rogue ignored him as she turned her communicator on. "Wanda, Lance, we've got company,"
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Wanda frowned as she explored the place. She grimaced as she stepped into mud. Great. Her boots was dirty.
She stifled a sigh as she wandered around. She felt something shift in her surroundings. She looked up.
She saw a small patch of mud. Something from its depths shifted.
Then slowly, slowly, mud rose, higher and higher. Until…
And she screamed.
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"Kitty?" Lance frowned. "What are you doing here?"
Kitty giggled nervously. "Same thing you are, I suppose,"
"So," Lance glanced around. "Where're your friends?"
Kitty looked at him suspiciously. "Where's yours?"
"Wanda, Lance, we've got company," Rogue's voice came out of his communicator.
"Yeah, well, could've used the warning two minutes ago, Rogue." Lance replied.
"Oh." Kitty frowned. "You're here with Rogue?"
Lance shrugged. "Yeah."
"I saw you carrying her when she fainted from absorbing Juggernaut." Kitty told him.
"Yeah."
"So, the two of you are really close, huh?"
"Yeah."
Kitty nervously twirled a lock of hair around her fingers. "So you like her?"
"Yeah." Lance replied. "Wait, what?"
"Well, she's one of the prettiest girl in school, after Jean, that is,"
"Jean is not prettier than Rogue." Lance contradicted her. No matter how much he liked Kitty, he was not about to admit that the X-Men were better than the Brotherhood in any respects.
"So you do like her!" Kitty accused him.
"Well, yeah!" Lance shot back. "She's my teammate!"
"You're one clueless homme, mon ami," Remy said as he joined the two on the porch of the house. "What's the smell?" He asked when he noticed the stench coming out of the house.
Lance's eyes rolled back into his head as he prepared to rock the ground to keep Gambit from moving any closer.
"Like, stop!" Kitty cried out as she held Lance's arms to keep him from commanding the earth to swallow her teammate.
"The petite likes you," Gambit told him as he reached into his pockets for his cards to ease the itching of his hands.
"Gambit!" Kitty's whine reached inhumane proportions as she blushed red.
"Relax, petite." Remy gave her a disarming grin as he started to shuffle lazily. "The homme feels the same way, everyone knows that. Now if the two of you just get together so the rest of us can go back to livin' our lives," his voice was cut off as Lance rocked the land beneath his feet.
"Lance!" A southern drawl broke Lance's concentration before he can inflict serious damage towards the Cajun.
Lance frowned. "What is it, Rogue?"
Rogue suddenly stopped when she saw Gambit. "What's he doin' here? I left him trapped back there,"
Gambit grinned at his unexpected savior. "Gambit's good with his hands, cher." His red on black eyes flirting shamelessly with her. "Very good."
"I don't have time for this," Rogue muttered, worried that Wanda hadn't answered any of her calls. "Lance, let's go!"
"Wait!" Kitty called out as Lance started to follow after Rogue.
Lance turned back around, torn between Kitty and following Rogue.
"Lance!" Rogue called out. "Hurry. I think Wanda's in trouble."
"See you later, pretty Kitty,"
But Kitty had other ideas as she run after Lance.
Remy smirked. This was going to be fun.
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"Neither of them are replying," Cyclops told Jean through the communicator. Jean and Evan had accompanied Professor Xavier to the house of Bobby Drake, a new mutant they were trying to recruit. Cyclops, Gambit, and Shadowcat went to the other location.
But Cyclops lost his two team members as soon as he gave the go-signal for them to search the premises. Great. What a good team leader he made, not even able to keep tabs on two people, even if one has the ability to become intangible while the other was a professional thief.
"I'm sure they're fine, Scott," Jean told him. "Things are doing great here, Bobby Drake, that's the new mutant recruit, may be moving in the Institute as soon as possible."
"Alright. I'll try and look for them. Cyclops out." He sighed. This was going to be one long mission.
"Get away from her, you mud monster!" Rogue shouted as she saw the patch of mud rise up and form a human figure. She ran towards the shocked Wanda.
Lance placed himself in front of the girls and called upon the earth underneath the monster to move.
The monster gave an inhuman-like cry and fell down, back into the mud.
The three members of the Brotherhood stood there a moment later, waiting for the monster to rise up again.
"Do you think he's gone?" Rogue frowned.
Lance turned to the girls as he flexed his muscles. "Don't worry, I'll take care of him if he comes back."
"Wait. What if that's the new mutant Irene was talking about?" Rogue persisted.
"I don't think so," Lance replied. "She said an amphibian-like mutant, not a mud monster."
Wanda nodded. "I never knew Irene to be wrong before," she added.
The three were facing each other, unmindful of their surroundings.
"But still, there's a first time for everything," Rogue shrugged.
"The problem with you, Rogue is that you don't have a lot of faith in people." Lance admonished the girl with the two-toned hair.
"Look out!" A male voice called out.
The three turned automatically.
They saw a charged card flutter down their feet.
The three screamed as they all leaped in different directions for cover.
The card exploded.
"Cajun!" Rogue thundered. "Are you trying to kill us?"
Gambit didn't reply, instead, he charged another card, the red of his eyes burning brightly.
And when Rogue looked to where the Cajun was staring, she saw the mud monster down on the spot they stood on moments earlier.
Gambit was about to let go of the other charged card when the monster help up its hand, as if in surrender. "I give, yo." It suddenly spoke.
Wanda and Rogue stared blankly at each other.
Slowly, the mud monster began to wipe at its face. Beneath the layers of mud, they saw a patch of what seemed to be brownish-green skin.
"I'm not a monster, yo." It was a boy. A boy with yellowish skin and bug-eyes, but a boy nonetheless. "The name is Todd," it said as it stood up and shook itself like a dog to rid itself of mud.
"Ew!" Kitty protested as bits of mud from the boy hit her.
"Don't make any sudden moves," Lance threatened him, not wanting Gambit to look cooler than he is in front of Kitty.
"What do you think you were doing?" Gambit demanded from the newcomer, his charged card still at hand.
"I just want to look at the girl, yo." Todd admitted with what seemed to be a blush.
"You better not mean Gambit's fille," he said, nodding towards Rogue.
Rogue was about to protest that she wasn't anyone's property when she realized that doing so might encourage the slimy creature to pursue her. So she kept quiet. She'll slam that swamp rat later.
"No! No!" Todd denied hotly. "The other one," he pointed towards Wanda. "Don't want to scare her, yo. So I thought I would use stealth, you know, like a secret agent or something,"
Wanda made a disgusted face.
"So you decide to roll on the mud?" Lance asked incredulously as he gathered his two teammates beside him.
"Well, seemed like a good idea at the time." Todd admitted.
"Do you think he's the mutant Irene was talking about?" Rogue whispered to Lance and Wanda as Todd talked.
Wanda shuddered. "I sure hope not."
Lance looked critically at the boy. He looks like a mutant, with his skin and long legs that seemed to be disproportional to his short body. Lance wondered what his mutation was, aside from his physical appearance.
A fly buzzed around the boy. Quickly, Todd's long tongue snapped out and captured the fly.
"Gross!" Kitty cried out. She and the girls looked sick. Heck, even Lance felt sick himself.
"I don't think I want to take him back," Wanda muttered. "Maybe we should let the X-Men have him."
Rogue nodded.
Lance was about to agree when suddenly, Scott Summers burst out from the vegetation behind them.
"Whoa!" Todd cried out, obviously caught by surprise. He stumbled a few steps backwards, but not before spitting out a splotch of green goop right in the face of the X-Men leader.
"Mmmph!" Cyclops protested as he angrily tried to pry off the slime of his face. But it seemed to have solidified.
Gambit looked amused. So did Lance.
Only Kitty looked worried, but she was unwilling to touch whatever it was that came out of Todd's mouth.
Lance grinned. "I think we may make a soldier out of that geek yet," he laughed as he watched Scott struggle futilely against the stuff Todd spat out.
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"Uh," Wanda groaned. "Whose bright idea was it to recruit Kermit the Frog?" She glared at Kurt and Rogue, during a lunch period.
Raven Darkholme being the principal of Bayville High, it was a snap to enroll a certain Todd Tolanski to their school.
"Well, Lance saw the precision and the distance Todd launched his spit and saw his potential, I guess." Rogue shrugged.
Kurt nodded. "Ja. But what does Lance plan to do? Gross out the X-Men with how disgusting that boy could be? He ate flies for breakfast! He made me lose my appetite!"
Rogue laughed. "It's high time you go on a diet anyway, Elf," she said affectionately. "And besides, I think he's sweet on Wanda."
"Did he really call Wanda sweet cheeks?" Kurt asked in amusement.
Rogue nodded. "And honey cakes, plus angel pie,"
"Stop it, if you don't want to be an unwilling guinea pig the next time I have a session with Agatha." Wanda warned the siblings.
Rogue snorted as she crossed and re-crossed her legs. Such threats from Wanda were nothing new. But, she supposed she should stop, after all, Wanda did turn her one and only twin brother into a moving target when she was learning to aim her lethal hex bolts.
Kurt, who was seated directly in front of his sister, noticed that the jocks at the next table had stopped eating. Instead, their jaws dropped wide open and were openly staring at his sister. He followed their line of sight. He grumbled. They were staring at his sister's legs.
Rogue was wearing a long skirt that day. However, its side has a very high slit. And when she re-crossed her legs, the slit fell down, exposing more skin than Kurt was happy with. Reaching across the table, Kurt took one side of the slit and tugged it upwards to cover Rogue's legs.
A few audible groans reached his elf-like ears, which were hidden by the image-inducer Magneto gave him.
Rogue met his eyes and raised an eyebrow. Then, the tugged the piece of cloth that covered her legs downwards and revealed the leg Kurt was trying to keep covered.
Kurt glared at her.
Rogue smirked. "Let 'em look, sugah." She told him before taking a sip of her juice. She then slowly licked her lips.
Someone from the other table moaned, no doubt finding Rogue's actions much too seductive.
Kurt's head turned and glared at the offending person.
Wanda snorted. "Stop messing with their heads, Rogue."
"And where would be the fun in that?" Rogue laughed.
"What I don't understand," Wanda continued. "Is why they still go gaga over you even during the times when you're all covered up."
Rogue grinned. "Just goes on to show you, sugah," she replied, slapping her brother's hand as he yet again attempted to cover her legs. "Is that sexiness is a state of mind," she gestured over where Jean and her X-geeks were sitting. "And not in the amount of flesh you show."
Wanda smirked as she looked at Miss Perfect herself, wearing a loose tank top and pants that showed off a hint of her midriff, pretty much her official school uniform. Her red, red hair tumbled down her shoulders. Jean rarely showed a lot of skin.
Like Jean, all Rogue usually shows were a sliver of flesh here and a leg or two there, and yet the two women were tied for the sexiest student in Bayville High.
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~tbc
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PS.
I know, I know. The Destiny Machine. How much more corny can I get? But what I'm trying to impress upon you guys is that everything the X-Men has, the Brotherhood has too.
The table conversation between Rogue, Wanda, and Kurt was inspired when one of my girl friends asked a guy friend of ours (who was a certified skirt-chaser) if he thinks we're sexy (meaning the women in our group). He was the only guy in our table then so he can't turn to anyone for support. And to our surprise, without batting an eyelash, he answered in the affirmative. He said that being sexy it not just the way one looks (but he was quick to admit that of course it matters), but with the way we conduct ourselves. Of course, the next question was, if we were so sexy, then how come no one's asking us out yet (to which he took longer to answer).
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Thanks to the following:
Solitaire3: yeah. I was toying with the idea of a bad Rogue for a while, I mean she was one sexy siren in the comics, not afraid to use her beauty and charm to get close to a guy, and them wham! The guy ends up in a coma, not knowing what hit him.
Sunset Rose: hope this installment is worth the wait.
Ishandahalf: once again you've awed me with your special ability to read and review almost all the chapters of most, if not all, the romy stories out there. I mean, the first thing I do whenever I plan on reading a XME fic is to check if you've reviewed them. You and your reviews are some of the reasons why the Romy fandom has flourished. Thank you for that.
Sweet like chocolate: I think Mystique is trying to take over the world! And you won't get me to divulge anymore than that. Not even under the pain of torture. Actually, I'm not sure myself. Tried asking the plotbunnies, but they just gave me a scary smile, so I left them alone.
Bad-girl4: hope this is soon enough. But sorry, hun, I don't have a mailing list, but I am flattered that you asked.
mAd RoGuE: thanks, sweetie. The last part, I whole-heartedly dedicate to you.
Thunderfox 150: Lots of thanks for reading and reviewing this story too. Like you, I think Rogue is a better fit with the Brotherhood. But is is just me or did you also notice that lately XME portrays the Brotherhood so pathetically. Weren't they able to beat the X-Men in Part 1 of The Cauldron (season 1)?
Winter Fire: Thanks. Please let me know what you think about this one!
Katrina5: At first I was worried about how I placed Rogue and Kurt in the Brotherhood. I even wrote a version where Kurt was in the X-Men, but I just couldn't bear to separate the siblings (and my story wouldn't work with Rogue in the X-Men). Glad you liked it.
Mercury Dream: Did somebody ask for Toad and Kurt? And Freddy's coming, don't worry. Wait for his debut. And thank you for adding me to your favorites list. I am so flattered.