Best Two Out of Three
Chapter 6: You Know You're Going Insane When…
A/N: Woo-hoo! I updated! *snaps for lady k* …yeah…this chapter might get a little confusing towards the end… just read the author's note at the end of the chapter and you'll be fine. Thanx for the reviews^^*!
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Rogue stepped out of the elevator and sat down with her back against a wall. What the hell was that? she asked herself. She clenched her hands into fists and pounded them angrily against the floor beside her.
How could she have been stupid enough to let the Cajun play off her emotions like that? What pissed off Rogue the most was that Gambit knew what he was doing to her. He knew that physical contact scared her…but at the same time it was exciting.
It had been years since she had touched a person skin-to-skin, and the fact that Gambit wasn't scared to touch her… No. Rogue shook her head. There was no way she would let herself fall for someone like Gambit.
She looked around the corner. The Professor was too close for her to think about the Acolyte now. Rogue stood up slowly, brushing her thigh of invisible dust. She turned towards the Professor's office and absent-mindedly pulled at the ends of her gloves.
If Gambit had come down the elevator with her, he and Magneto had to be in the Professor's office waiting for her. Were they going to stay while the Professor probed her mind? She understood that Magneto wanted to be there now that he was working with his enemy, but did Gambit have to be there?
Once she reached the office she paused in the doorway. Sure enough, the Cajun was inside leaning against a wall, while the Professor and Magneto were seated at a desk. "Ah, Rogue. Come in," the Professor said, motioning for her to sit in the chair next to Magneto.
She did so reluctantly, her eyes following the every move of Magnus as well as those of his minion, who was still shuffling cards, his eyes downcast. "Now then," the Professor began. "I would like to probe your mind once more. I know that you believe Apocalypse is not trapped in your mind, but Magnus would like to see for himself." Rogue glanced over at Magneto again and nodded her head. "Alright then. Relax," the Professor said as he placed his hands on either side of Rogue's forehead.
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Gambit looked on skeptically. He knew Magneto, and Magneto was not the kind of person to check things out. There was something in Rogue's mind that interested the old man…there had to be.
Gambit watched as Xavier placed his hands on Rogue's head and closed his eyes. Before Rogue joined the Professor in her mind, she sent a suspicious glance Magneto's way.
Bonne filleGood girl don't let him trick you into trusting him, Gambit thought as he stashed his cards in his coat pocket. He crossed his arms and remained leaned against the wall. The room was silent for what seemed like forever as the Acolyte waited for the trio to retreat from Rogue's mind.
Suddenly, a scream rang out, echoing along the tall walls of the Professor's study. Rogue opened her eyes and clawed at Professor Xavier's hands. The Professor opened his eyes as well, and withdrew his hold on Rogue's forehead. But that did not stop Rogue's screams.
"Get out!!! Get out!!" she yelled, her fingernails still digging into her hair as if trying to rip it out. Instinct kicked in, and Gambit was soon at her side, pinning down her arms and pulling her close to muffle her screams from the rest of the Institute.
Rouge stopped yelling and calmed down with slow breaths. One he could no longer hear her gasps for air, Gambit pulled her away from him with only a bit of reluctance. He tried to meet her eyes, but her gaze had dropped to the floor. "Rogue," the Professor asked quietly, "Are you okay?" Rogue didn't answer.
Gambit glared at Xavier. "What happened? " he asked, his tone harsh. The Professor shook his head. "I don't know. One minute I was talking to Mesmero's psyche and then…Rogue's mind went blank; she put up her mental shields."
"Surely her mental blocks cannot keep you out, can they Charles?" Magneto asked, unfazed. The Professor looked down at his hands. "Rogue has always been good at keeping me out, but I could usually get into her mind when necessary," Professor Xavier paused. "Perhaps the strengthening of her mental shields can be explained by her contact with Apocalypse-"
"Does this mean that Rogue does have an Apocalypse psyche?" Magneto asked, his interest in the matter rising. Gambit glared at Magneto suspiciously. What did he want with Apocalypse's psyche?
The Cajun absent-mindedly pulled Rogue a little closer. Rogue was still staring into space, seemingly oblivious to everything going on outside her mind. But in reality, her psyches were all talking to her at once, some of them yelling to be heard above the crowd.
She could hear the faint strands of a conversation between the Professor and Magneto. She felt smaller and smaller with each new psyche that started to yell…she was drowning in a sea of people.
"Everybody out of Gambit's way!" Rogue snapped to attention at the sound of a familiar voice. She could see the outline of him, slowly becoming more visible against the wall of psyches. "What do you want?" Rogue asked. She was tired and almost ready to give up. "Gambit gonna help you, chere," the figure said, offering her his hand. Rouge hesitated. Maybe it was better this way…maybe it would just be easier-"
"O' course it's easier chere, but if you want to stand up to all these people who've been making you suffer then you gotta fight," Gambit said. Rogue grabbed his hand and looked Gambit's psyche straight in the eye. "You're one o' my psyches too! How am I supposed to trust ya?"
Gambit smiled. "You're not. Chere, don't ever make the mistake of trustin' Gambit." He stood a bit closer to her and looked into her eyes, and for once she didn't look down.
Another wave of sound from the other psyches made its way to Rogue's ears. She let go of Gambit's hand and covered her ears; her eyes squinted from the pain. "C'mon, just a little further," Gambit said, taking hold of her hand once again and leading her away from her psyches.
"Where are ya taking me, Swamp Rat?" The Cajun smiled. "Gambit want to show you something." He led her down into a dark nothingness. "Where are we?" she asked, trying to stand as close to Gambit as possible without him noticing.
"We be in yo' memories," Gambit said, as he did indeed notice her proximity." My memories? Why is it so dark?" she asked. Gambit paused. "Because a new psyche came in and messed you up, chere. But no worries, Gambit 'ill make sure it don't happen more than once. Ah, here it is."
Rogue turned her head to look in front of her. A green door had appeared out of nowhere. "What's behind it?" Rogue asked curiously. Gambit grinned proudly. "Go look cher," he said.
She cautiously took a step forward. Could she trust Gambit? After all, he was one of her psyches, and in her experiences with her psyches they always wanted to take control. This would be the perfect time for psyche Gambit to take over her mind.
Rogue took one look back at the pleased Cajun and opened the door. At first, it seemed like the door contained a sort of nothingness. "Ah don't see anythin'," Rogue said skeptically. "Keep looking; it's in there," Gambit said. Rogue sighed and turned around again only to be faced by something…large and pink.
"What the…?" Rogue said, startled. She felt a hand on her shoulder pulling her back. "You can see it better if ya stand back," Gambit said. "Now look." Rogue lifted her eyes to gaze up at the large pink thing and screamed.
Gambit winced. "C'mon chere. It not be that bad." Rogue put a hand to her heart and glared at the Cajun. "What the hell is that supposed to be?!" she asked, pointing at the pink monstrosity.
"Don't ya see? It's a statue o' you," Gambit answered. "Ah know that!" Rogue snapped. "What's it made of?"
The Cajun shifted uncomfortably. "Bubble gum." Rogue turned away from Gambit. "Now I know I took a blow to the head or something…" she said, placing a hand on her head. Gambit coughed suggestively.
"What was that?" she asked.
"Nuthin'."
"What do you know?"
"Nuthin'."
"Stop saying that! You know something!" Gambit sighed in defeat. "That guy Gambit told you about…he must have messed with yo' brain more than I thought…all the psyches have been acting weird lately…then again, you have been takin' a lot o' pills…" Rogue groaned.
"You're exactly like the Swamp Rat. I thought by now you'd be thinkin like me," she said. Gambit smiled. " Aucun Gambit de prodige pend vers vous cher…vous're beaucoup plus amusant que le repos du X- geeks. Ciao chere!""
No wonder Gambit hangs around you dear…you're much more fun than the rest of the X- geeks
Psyche Gambit turned on his heel and disappeared into the dark regions of her memories.
"Wait, how am I supposed to-" Rogue started, but was cut off by a loud noise like a train traveling towards her. She closed her eyes, praying that her other psyches had not found her. When she opened them, the first thing she saw was the Cajun, except this time he wasn't a psyche.
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A/N: Don't understand? That's okay! I'll explain. Some guy (gee I wonder who) messed with Rogue's mind, so when the Professor and Magneto go probing she ends up getting them out really quickly. She's basically in her mind a lot this chapter. She's in there and she meets up with psyche Gambit. Her minds all screwy so he takes her to a door, which contains a bubble gum statue devoted to her behind it. So that indicates she's kinda messed up in the head. Finally at the end of the chapter she comes back to reality.
*ta-daaa!!!!* That's it. Sorry it was confusing. Promise the next one won't be…Rogue will probably be sprechen sie Deutsch next chapter though…till next time!!!