Author's Note: Since I can't seem to get Microsoft Word to work on my
computer I have decided to use the asterisk * to indicate thought.
Disclaimer: Um hey, what's a disclaimer?
Interesting Fact: Computers only malfunction when its least convenient for the owner.
The Damned, Episode 1 Chapter 10: The End of Innocence
Hillary Farmer rested her head against the head rest on the airplane's comfortable chair. She looked at Erik, snoring softly in his own section of dream world. Whatever he was dreaming must have been wonderful because his lips were stretched into a wide smile. Hillary shut her eyes, trying to forget the hell they had been through in the last twenty four hours.
"Yo Fontine, I'm off. You gonna be alright all alone?" One security gaurd asked another.
Fontine looked at his co-worker in annoyance, "Sam this aint my first day on the job, unless something that goes bump in the night, attacks me I'll be fine." Fontine emptied a cup of coffee into his mouth, "besides its five in the morning, even the monsters are asleep now."
Sam rolled his eyes, "fine just don't screw up."
Fontine watched his co-worker leave and grumbled to himself, three years and his partner could not just forget the time Fontine had accidentally fallen asleep on the job.
"Well if Sam thinks he's better at this job than I am then he's the most stupid..." Fontine mumbled to himself as his forehead touched the desk and he dozed off.
Three years ago Fontinehad been sitting in the very same lobby of the very same building and had fallen asleep out of boredom. Now he fell asleep with the aid of a very strong sedative.
Sam calmly walked into the room and glanced down at the empty cup of coffee. Smiling he made his way to the main elevator. He pressed the button for the fourth floor and waited for the doors to open. Stepping out he found the room he needed and quickly sat at one of its several computers. He quickly overrode all of the system's codes. Sam found the files he wanted and opened it. Pressing PRINT he slowly began to read the file;
It is in the judgement of the Federal Bureau of Investigation that all beings pocessing supposed mutations be fully evaluated. These beings pocessing mutated genes may pose a threat to the very social core that has made up American society for the past hundreds of years.
Should these beings be more fact than fiction...
* * *
"The United States government should start its plans to round them up and send them to enternment camps." Mystique read aloud.
Magneto made a fist, "And Charles wants to live along these people?"
Mystique looked back up at Magneto, "They are already planning our extermination when we have done nothing at all. They don't even know that we exist really and still they-" She stopped out of frustration.
"Does the file say anything else?"
She nodded and handed him the file, "There's a list of suspected mutants in there as well as possible mutations."
Magneto seethed when he reached the final page, How to Exterminate.
"So," Mysitque said with calm, "are you ready for the next stage of our plan?"
* * *
Charles Xavier ground his teeth together in frustration. He knew his former friend, Erik, was in the city. Xavier could sense Erik in the city but could not get a lock on the mutant. He supposed Erik was not using his powers in a deliberate attempt to avoid him. Charles sighed after several more minutes to track Erik down. He wished he at least knew who Erik was traveling with, maybe then he would be able to track him down. Charles tried once more to find his former friend, he could feel that Erik was leaving the city but there was nothing Charles could do. Nothing.
* * *
Magneto looked over the floor plans Mystique had given him while Mystique flew them over New England.
"Mystique are you positive this is correct?"
Without looking away from the stretch of skies in front of her Mystique replied, "Of course." "Be careful wiht that attitude," Magneto warned, "Plenty have found that being cocky only leads to downfall."
Mystique smiled, "Me? Cocky, never."
Magneto smiled grimly, "Let's just get through this mission without any problems alright."
"Cheer up Erik, this is routine for me."
"But not for me and not being able to use my powers lest that Xavier finds me, is driving me insane."
"Its okay," Mystique replied in a more sympathetic voice. "After this mission we'll be back home where he can't detect our powers."
Magneto began to contemplate this. "Mystique, the material you used in the walls of the house, is there any way you could lend me some?"
"Sure."
* * *
For the second time that day Mystique found herself in someone else's body. By all technicalities she wasn't actually in someone else's body, just shaped her own to look like another's. Lately though she had begun to think of her mutation as the borrowing of someone else's form. Mystique sighed as these thoughts ran through her head for the tenth time that day.
She loved her mutation but it seemed like a joke that God should give her a body that was far from presentable in any modern society and still give her the gift of shapeshifting. She wondered if her son felt the same way. Kurt probably felt God's gift to be more cruel than humorous. He was not presentable either but the only gift he was given was to disappear.
Mystique sighed again, reminding herself that thinking about Kurt was a waste of her time because she would never see him again. Her only contact with him was through Irene's visions. It was through Irene that Mystique knew that her son was still alive and that he was soon to manifest his secondary mutation. Mystique shook herself out of her thoughts not even allowing herself to be consumed by thoughts of her eldest son.
* * *
Magneto frowned from aboard the plane. Mystique had not reached her first checkpoint yet. He was beginning to wonder if he should try to contact her. He convicned himself not to, should anyone hear his voice over the device Mystique was wearing, it would be disastrous. Instead Magneto willed himself to wait in patience.
* * *
As Mystique strolled confidently down the halls of the Pentagon, dressed as a Colonel, she felt the eyes of several women roaming over her gorgously manly figure. Her victim, Colonel Gray, had been chosen only for his access to several important files, the pysique had been a bonus.
She quickly located the Colonel's office and entered only to find his office full of what seemed to be reporters. As soon as she entered the office the reporters flocked around her like a flock of seagull.
"Colonel Grey, how do you respond to the allegations that you are helping to push Bush to war with Iraq?"
"Colonel Grey, is it true that we should be more concentrated on fighting domestic terrrors? Especially those rumored to be of superhuman quality?"
Colonel Grey placed a finger to his lips to silence the reporters, "First of all, I'm not sure who let you into my office, this is the Pentagon, private property. Secondly, the American public has no reason to worry, war is inevitable at this point and the rumors of 'superhuman' threats," he stressed the words sarcastically, "are just that, rumors." Mystique ran a hand down her tie to straighten it and looked directly ino the eyes of one of the reporters, "Now Miss," she looked at the reporter's badge, "Cheney I suggest you and the rest of your friends leave or I will call security."
To credit her, Cheney did not look intimidated. "Colonel there are a growing number of reports of what the public have dubbed mutants. What are your thoughts?"
*The young and foolish* Mystique thought. "Miss Cheney mass hysteria has always been a weak point of society. Individual people are intelligent, people acting as a group tend to act without thought or reason. Mutants, as you called them, do not exist. Now if you'll turn around you will see my personal security staff ready to escort you out."
Lila Cheney and the reporters that had dared defy the Colonel's previous command found their equipment being taken from them and being roughly escorted out of the office.
Mystique turned back towards the Colonel's desk and began to rumage through his belongings. After finding nothing of value on his computer's harddrive she began to search for any floppy disks. Unfortunatly there were none to be found. She sighed in aggravation and let her eyes come to rest on the personal possetions on the Colonel's desk in hopes of finding a clue. The first thing Mystique noticed was the single picture on the Colonel's desk, one of his family. Mystique frowned at the smiling faces of the Colonel's blonde wife and young, red haired daughter.
*Men like him don't deserve happiness*
It was this thought that brought Mystique to realization. Except for this picture in its tiny frame, the office was void of personal touches. She turned the frame around and read a message written in what appeared to be a woman's handwriting.
My Dear Husband,
Discoveries of pain are completely, utterly behind us. Any of the fridged misgivings we once have are no longer. Keep this picture to remind you.
Mystique's eyes narrowed as she began to understand the message. Systematically she began to mentally dispose of selected words until she was left with MY DISCS ARE BEHIND THE FRIDGE. She had learned the code several years ago on another job.
She got up and located the small office refridgerator and ran her hand behind it. She felt something plastic and pulled it out. Victorously she held a small package of discs.
As she began to run the discs through the computer she thought *He should have known better that to use a false letter. The first give away was the lack of signature.*
As the first graph popped up on her screen Mystique became more focused. She interpretted the information as thourougly as possible before deciding that these were indeed the discs she needed.
"Who the hell are you!?"
Mystique looked up into the eyes of a bewildered Colonel Grey.
* * *
From aboard the plane Magneto began to pace with an uncharacteristic unease. Mystique was not only late to check in but he was sure that someone was bound to notice their aircraft hidden in the dense wooded area they had hidden it in.
* * *
"I'll repeat it once more," Colonel Grey warned, reaching for what had to be a gun, "Who the hell are you?"
Mystique was stupified, How had she not heard his footsteps?
Colonel Grey pulled his gun out into full view, pointing it directly at what appeared to be his own face.
Mystique pulled herself together and stood up with authority, "No, who are you and why are you in my office?"
Colonel Grey faltered for a spilt second and that was all Mystique needed. She launched herself into the air and knocked the Colonel onto his back. As he let go of his gun, Mystique grabbed hold of it. She deftly rendered Colonel Grey unconcious before morphing into the form of one of the janitors she had seen as she had entered the building.
Closing the office door behing her, she quickly left the office only to be stopped by the voice of a security officer. "Stop right there!"
Mystique turned to face the officer. She put on a slightly intimidated mask, just what the officer would expect from a lowly janitor. Unfortunatly for her the officer was not buying it.
For the second time Mystique found a gun being pointed at her.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Derek Fern I've worked here as a janitor for-"
"Cut the crap!" the officer told her. "I don't know who..or what, you are but I've already called for backup."
"B-but I haven't done anything wrong," she insisted in the voice of the janitor.
"We have cameras set up all over this building, including the inside of Colonel Grey's office."
*Crap*
"Put your hands above your head."
Mystique hesitated.
"Do it now!"
She placed her palms on her head.
"Good now-"
The lights flickered and the officer glanced upwards.
Mystique reacted instinctively and karate chopped the man's arm. She pulled him by the neck to eyelevel, "That's what you get for being easily distracted," she smiled at the fear in his eyes and grabbed his gun. Keeping it trained on him she said, "Now say goodnight." She felt a searing pain in her chest and she dropped the gun.
"Goodnight," the officer said smugly.
Mystique turned slowly and looked into the eyes of another officer. Looking down she could already see the blood start to pour. "No," she croaked. Images of her children rushed to the forefront of her eyes.
The officer that shot her pushed her to the ground and cuffed her, taking full advantage of the delerium he knew she was feeling from pain. The next few moments were a blur to the second officer. He found himself being lifted off of Mystique and thrown into his collegue. Before either one knew it they were unconscious.
* * *
Mystique sat quietly in the back of the plane. Magneto was treating her gunshot wound carefully. He tried to look her in the eyes but she kept avoiding his gaze.
"Mystique talk to me."
She did not, instead she shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
"Alright, at least tell me if you are feeling any discomfort."
"In my back," she said slightly dazed.
"Why?" Magneto asked genuinly confused.
"I don't know."
"Let me see," Magneto helped her up and turned her around. Under her clothes he made out what could have been bumps and bruises. He placed his hands against the bumps and found that they were not bumps but "A gun and the discs."
Mystique laughed humorlessly, "I had that damn Colonel's gun the whole time."
Magneto shook his head, after he treated the relatively minor bullet wound, he and Mystique would have to have a talk about losing focus.
Hillary Farmer continued to look at her traveling companion. They had flown their own aircraft to Canada to one of Raven's own secret bases. From there they caught a flight back to Mississippi. Erik had indeed tried to talk to Raven about her focus on her missions but she had purposely shut him out. She hated to admit it, even to herself, but he was right, she had lost focus in a major way. Had Magneto not thought to come and play the rescuer she might have ended up dead or in some lab. She shuddered and felt tears burn the backs of her eyelids.
* * *
Marie felt the sun's rays fall across her body. Tuesday afternoon and Marie was lying lazily on her bed, window open, listening to a tape Dominic had given her. It had been labeled London Calling and Dominic had assured her that it was the best punk album ever produced. So far Marie had to agree.
"London calling to the faraway towns," she began to sing along to the title track, "Now that war is declared and battle come down..."
Dominic sat in the room next to Marie's, smiling. He had talked to Marie late into the night, convincing her that he was not a bad person, that he really did want to get to know her. He was happy that he was bale to find music they both liked, he loved that she had given him a tip to win Mica over.
* * *
Mica flipped through the channels on the television in her bedroom. Nothing was on. She sighed and actually resorted to doing her homework.
Ring!
She looked at her phone in annoyance. "Hello?" she picked up the phone.
"Step by step ooh baby," Dominic began to sing, feeling incredibly foolish, "Gonna get to you girl. Step by step ooh baby, really want you in my world. hey girl in your eyes I see a picture of me all the time and girl when you smile you got to know that you drive me wild." Mica smiled brightly. "Step by step ooh baby you're always on my mind step by step ooh girl I really think its just a matter of time." Mica giggled. When he finished singing Dominic asked, "So what do you say Mica? Would you like to go to the movies with me friday?"
* * *
"She said yes!"
Marie looked at Dominic's jumping figure in confusion. he had just burst into her room while she was listening to the tape. "What? Who said yes?"
"Mica!" Dominic's eyes danced, "She said she'd go out on a date with me!"
Marie smiled, "So mah advice worked?"
Dominic nodded excitedly, "Who would have thought a New Kids song would help me out." He stopped suddenly, "But what am I supposed to wear? I've never been on a date." He looked at Marie.
"Don't look at me, Ah don't date."
Dominic collapsed to sit on the floor, "What am I going to do?"
Marie shook her head, "Dominic maybe ya should ask Pietro, he's all GQ, maybe he would know."
He took only one second to consider what she was saying before shaking his head, "Naw, Pietro hates my guts and more importantly I can't stand him."
"No one can," Marie told him, "That's part of his charm." She pressed the pause button on her boom box, "but if ya really want good tips ya gotta suck it up."
Her newly found friend sighed in agitation, "Fine, where is he?"
She shrugged, "Haven't seen him o' Wanda since this morning."
"Maybe he's watching TV downstairs." Without waiting for Marie, Dominic made his way down the hall then down the stairs.
Marie pressed play and sank into more music by her new favorite band, the Clash.
* * *
"Yo what's up?" Pietro high fived the members of his clique.
"Yo Pietro how's it been, aint seen you around here lately."
Pietro ran a hand through his smooth white locks and answered, "What can I say Craig? So many girls, so little time."
The other boys in his clique laughed as though Pietro was the funniest man in the world.
"Speaking of girls," Craig said, "What's up with that Mica girl?"
Pietro shrugged, "I lost interest in her, not good enough for me."
"I don't know," Craig continued, "I hear she only has eyes for that guy that lives with you. What's his name?"
"Dominic," Pietro told him sourly, "Don't remind me of that loser."
Todd, another of Pietro's friends, spoke up, "Why do you live with him anyway? I've heard the rumors around school that your dad just took him in to be nice, adopted him and all that but I don't know if it's true."
Pietro nodded, recognizing the cover story they were supposed to remember, "Yup that's right."
"So why didn't you live down here until this year?" Todd asked.
"When my parents divorced my mom got custody of Wanda and I. But she got remarried and decided it would be better for us to live with our dad. She didn't know that he had already adopted another child but hey it all worked out."
"So why do ya'll live with Marie's family?" Another boy, Joshua, asked.
Pietro smiled cooly, "My dad and Miss Farmer were friends from way back and when my parents got divorced he needed a place to stay. Since they grew up together Miss Farmer said it would alright for him to live with her and her half sister Irene." Pietro shrugged, "he just never moved out and now we all live there."
Todd laughed uneasily, "I don't know man, living with Marie might give me the creeps."
Pietro frowned, "What do you mean?"
"Come on man," Josh started, "haven't you heard what people say about her?" Pietro shook his head. "They say that she wears all that clothing all the time because she has some kind of rare skin disease that makes her like a vampire or something."
Todd nodded, "Yeah and I heard that she's one of those weird mutant things."
Pietro looked at Todd sharply, "What weird mutant things?"
Craig picked up the conversation, "Oh come on Pietro haven't you heard? Those mutants have been on the news all freakin' week. They've come to destroy us all and eat our brains through our noses."
Pietro laughed uneasily, "So what makes you think Marie's like that?"
"Dude she wears so many clothes, even in the summer, which I know you haven't found out yet. And she never really talks to anyone but Mica. Hope Mica is on her toes, she could be Marie's next victim."
Pietro frowned at Craig's stupidity.
Luckily Craig mistook the frown as one of concern, "Just stay on top of things Pietro. We don't want you to fall victim to one of those damn muties they're nothing but trouble."
* * *
"Pietro are you down here?"
"No, he's out with some friends," Irene's voice came from her office on the first floor.
"Damn."
"What was that young man?"
Dominic mentally kicked himself, "I said darn."
"That's what I thought.
The boy sighed and collapsed on the couch. He reached for the remote and turned the big screen television on. CNN had come to be his favorite channel. He, unlike many children, actually enjoyed learning what was going on.
The big nosed anchor sat upright, "More mutant hysteria is threatening to break out in New York City. More and more people are certain they've seen strange creatures crawling in and out of the city's sewer system."
Dominic was instantly hooked, hadn't Erik told him that he might be a mutant?
"We'll go to Gary Fredrick in the New York. Fredrick..."
"Yes Don I am standing in front of Times Square where a large group of protesters have gathered. As you can see they are demanding that the government tell them all that they know." Fredrick stopped a man involved with the protest, "Excuse me sir? Can you tell me what exactly is going on?'
The man sneered,"Can't you see? The government is trying to take us over with their Area 51 freaks!"
Fredrick turned back towards the camera, "As you can see, some participants have become truley delusional." He pressed her index finger to his ear, "Wait, we have recieved word from Washington, something has happened in the Pentagon!"
The scene changed quickly. Instead of Fredrick in front of a large group of protesters there was commotion. Several Metro policemen accompanied firetrucks and paramedics to help clear out a crowd of reporters in front of the Pentagon. One of the reporters was none other than Lila Cheney. She stood in front of the mess of confusion to talk to the camera.
"As you can tell from the scene behind me there was an emergency here in the Pentagon. Accordign to witnesses two mutants attacked the men and women of the Pentagon without care." Dominic's eyes bugged out. "According to the report, one of the mutant duo was a male seemingly capable of controlling the metal around him," Dominic heard a gasp and realized that Marie and Irene were now in the room. "The second mutant was a shapeshifter, changing from one identity to the next without revealing its sex. This mutant however, was shot through the chest" Irene brought a hand to her mouth. "It is beleived they were after confidential information for reasons unknown. What the police do know is that several employees of the Pentagon were badly hurt, none mortally, but all were left with scars. It seems as though this 'mutant hysteria' is becoming reality."
* * *
Wanda stared at the television screen in disbelief. She had decided, against better judgement, to ditch school and spend the day wandering the city. Now she was staring at one of the televisions at the local mall trying to make heads or tails of what she had heard.
* * *
It was almost ten in the evening before Raven graced the doorknob of her home with her presence. As Erik followed her she knew they would be alright, they were home after all. She opened the door and found five concerned pairs of eyes trained on her.
"Hi honey I'm home!" she faked cheerfullness.
Irene stood up angrily as Raven knelt down to hug Marie. "Raven you're all over the news." She looked at Erik, "You too!"
Raven paled, "Come again."
Erik closed the door, "Was it about the Pentagon?"
"What else would it be about?" Irene asked.
Erik looked the children,"Go on to sleep."
"But-"
"Now Pietro."
All four children grumbled as they climbed the stairs. Marie stopped them at the top of the staircase and indicated that they could hear the adults' conversation from there.
* * *
Irene sat on the edge of the sofa, waiting.
Raven noted the way Irene crossed her arms in a slow deliberate manner. "Irene there's no reason to be angry."
Irene glared at Erik, "Is this true?"
"Well, um," Erik was flustered.
Raven stepped in, "What Erik is trying to say is that, yes this was a horrible mission. We obviously did not exit as stealthily as we would have liked but-"
Irene cut her off, "No buts. Tell me exactly what happened."
Erik sighed and recanted their story exactly as it happened. Irene's expression became unreadable. Both Erik and Raven looked as though they were awaiting punishment.
When Irene finally spoke it came out as a whisper, "Did you get the bullet wound taken care of?"
Raven nodded, "Luckily it missed my heart and managed not to hit any arteries."
"Lucky."
Raven nodded.
Erik spoke, "The mission wasn't a complete bust, we did manage to get Grey's discs."
Irene's eyes focused on Erik's form, "You idiots risked your lives for a few damned discs."
"Irene honey," Raven began, "The discs could be the break we've been waiting for."
Irene shook her head, "How many times have I heard that? How many times have you talked me into believing that your risking your life to work with that Essex man would be 'the break we need'?" Irene stood up, "You two might have found your precious break but at what cost? You've finally exposed mutants to the rest of the world and knowing Xavier he's on your trail right now."
Erik interjected, "Irene this house is laced with enough of our metal to scramble his Cerebro."
Irene frowned, "Erik its been years since you worked with the man. How do you know that the metal still dampens Cerebro's power?" Erik's silence only managed to irritate Irene further. "And what about the children? Did you two even think about them?"
"Of course we did," Erik told her. "I thought a great deal of Wanda and Pietro and I'm sure Raven thought of Marie every step of the way. That's why we have to do this, to secure their futures."
Irene's gaze settled on a very uncomfortable Raven, "And you. I have no doubt in my mind that this mission's partial failure was due to your irresponsibility." Not even Raven's wounded look stopped Irene, "You need to take your big head out of the clouds and concentrate on the here and now. You are NOT the Great Warrior you like to think yourself to be."
"Irene," Erik said gently.
"And what do you want Erik? Your goal since you moved in with us has been to take Raven for yourself? Have you finally found a way to do that? Fill her head with ideas of domination meanwhile making me look like the bad guy and having this shit come between us?" A tear rolled down Irene's cheek.
"Irene," Raven reached for her lover.
Irene shrugged her hand off. "No."
From the top of the stairs the kids could hear a door open and close.
* * *
Dominic crawled into bed with a heavy heart. Neither one of them, Raven nor Erik, had thought of his well being the whole time they were on the mission. He tried to tell himself it didn't matter, that they weren't his parents anyway so why care. He wasn't sure why it mattered to him but it did and it hurt.
* * *
Wanda slid into her velvety bed angrily. How dare she! How dare Irene accuse her father of such selfish acts! It was him that had helped her and her brother by getting them the best doctors. It was her father that took the time out of his life to help Irene and Raven with their plans and helped them get the papers to legally take over the land that the house was sitting on. How dare that jealous bitch treat her father, who wanted no more than to see others succeed, like scum.
* * *
Pietro quickly went to his room. Rather than sleep he sat atop his covers, confused. He wondered what Irene had meant by saying that his father wanted Raven. He wondered if it could be true, could his father have ulterior motives? He had never given his father's character any thought. His father had never been there when he was growing up, he had always been with his mom and he knew his father sent generous checks every month but he knew almost nothing else. Could Erik really be responsible for how mutants were being perceived? The words of his friends came back to him "We don't want you to fall victim to one of those damn muties, they're nothing but trouble."
* * *
Marie wrote in her diary.
I'm not completely surprised about any of it. I guess I should be but it makes so much sense, except for whoever that Essex guy is.
I wish things didn't have to be this way. I want things to go back to the way they were a few years ago, before Wanda and Pietro and Dominic. I want everything to revert to normalcy. I guess it is kind of odd that I thought of it as normal I mean homosexual parents, a strange man living in my home and missions to save a new generation of humans that no one knew about.
Before today I never really thought about the innocence that used to be my shelter. Although I always saw the oddities of my family life, of my world really, I always though of them as comfortable. I know that Wanda and Pietro, as much as they would disown it, really found comfort in the hospital. When something comes that frequent it is like shelter from the pain of the outside world. And poor Dominic, he knew nothing but the street life for so long, came to know it like a surrogate family, depended on the streets to keep him safe and then was thrown into a world he knows nothing about. I feel as though a chapter of my life is closing tonight and with it I, we all, have found the end of innocence.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Yeah! Finally this chapter has come out the way I wanted it to! Shout out to the following......
Tammy: I was afraid Marie was a little too harsh on him but then I thought about her personality and how he violated her privacy and let her do whatever she wanted. The ending of that chapter actually came off exactly how I wanted it to although I'm not sure about Marie's relationship with Wanda, we'll just have to wait and see.
Panther Nesmith: GO 80s! have you watched VHI's I love the 80s? It so totally rocked. Anyway, about the story, I can't wait to reveal what Mystique and Magneto need with Sinister or what's up with the dreams. As for Wanda, we'll just chalk it up to hormones.
Ishandahalf: I always look forward to your reviews, they're so fun to read. Yup I guess we've all noticed that Rogue is a messed up kid but I can't reveal what the dreams are about, yet. Just out of curiosity, who do you like better, Dom or Pietro? As for Wanda and Marie trying to become friends, I'm not exactly sure how that's gonna work out. I'll keep it coming like a bunny on crack!
LiLRogue: Alright, alright, no need for anymore threats, I updated! Thanks for the compliments! I can't wait for Rogue's powers to manifest.that's when the real fun begins!
Okay, one chapter down, more to go! You all see the GO button down there, do your thing and I'll update soon!
Disclaimer: Um hey, what's a disclaimer?
Interesting Fact: Computers only malfunction when its least convenient for the owner.
The Damned, Episode 1 Chapter 10: The End of Innocence
Hillary Farmer rested her head against the head rest on the airplane's comfortable chair. She looked at Erik, snoring softly in his own section of dream world. Whatever he was dreaming must have been wonderful because his lips were stretched into a wide smile. Hillary shut her eyes, trying to forget the hell they had been through in the last twenty four hours.
"Yo Fontine, I'm off. You gonna be alright all alone?" One security gaurd asked another.
Fontine looked at his co-worker in annoyance, "Sam this aint my first day on the job, unless something that goes bump in the night, attacks me I'll be fine." Fontine emptied a cup of coffee into his mouth, "besides its five in the morning, even the monsters are asleep now."
Sam rolled his eyes, "fine just don't screw up."
Fontine watched his co-worker leave and grumbled to himself, three years and his partner could not just forget the time Fontine had accidentally fallen asleep on the job.
"Well if Sam thinks he's better at this job than I am then he's the most stupid..." Fontine mumbled to himself as his forehead touched the desk and he dozed off.
Three years ago Fontinehad been sitting in the very same lobby of the very same building and had fallen asleep out of boredom. Now he fell asleep with the aid of a very strong sedative.
Sam calmly walked into the room and glanced down at the empty cup of coffee. Smiling he made his way to the main elevator. He pressed the button for the fourth floor and waited for the doors to open. Stepping out he found the room he needed and quickly sat at one of its several computers. He quickly overrode all of the system's codes. Sam found the files he wanted and opened it. Pressing PRINT he slowly began to read the file;
It is in the judgement of the Federal Bureau of Investigation that all beings pocessing supposed mutations be fully evaluated. These beings pocessing mutated genes may pose a threat to the very social core that has made up American society for the past hundreds of years.
Should these beings be more fact than fiction...
* * *
"The United States government should start its plans to round them up and send them to enternment camps." Mystique read aloud.
Magneto made a fist, "And Charles wants to live along these people?"
Mystique looked back up at Magneto, "They are already planning our extermination when we have done nothing at all. They don't even know that we exist really and still they-" She stopped out of frustration.
"Does the file say anything else?"
She nodded and handed him the file, "There's a list of suspected mutants in there as well as possible mutations."
Magneto seethed when he reached the final page, How to Exterminate.
"So," Mysitque said with calm, "are you ready for the next stage of our plan?"
* * *
Charles Xavier ground his teeth together in frustration. He knew his former friend, Erik, was in the city. Xavier could sense Erik in the city but could not get a lock on the mutant. He supposed Erik was not using his powers in a deliberate attempt to avoid him. Charles sighed after several more minutes to track Erik down. He wished he at least knew who Erik was traveling with, maybe then he would be able to track him down. Charles tried once more to find his former friend, he could feel that Erik was leaving the city but there was nothing Charles could do. Nothing.
* * *
Magneto looked over the floor plans Mystique had given him while Mystique flew them over New England.
"Mystique are you positive this is correct?"
Without looking away from the stretch of skies in front of her Mystique replied, "Of course." "Be careful wiht that attitude," Magneto warned, "Plenty have found that being cocky only leads to downfall."
Mystique smiled, "Me? Cocky, never."
Magneto smiled grimly, "Let's just get through this mission without any problems alright."
"Cheer up Erik, this is routine for me."
"But not for me and not being able to use my powers lest that Xavier finds me, is driving me insane."
"Its okay," Mystique replied in a more sympathetic voice. "After this mission we'll be back home where he can't detect our powers."
Magneto began to contemplate this. "Mystique, the material you used in the walls of the house, is there any way you could lend me some?"
"Sure."
* * *
For the second time that day Mystique found herself in someone else's body. By all technicalities she wasn't actually in someone else's body, just shaped her own to look like another's. Lately though she had begun to think of her mutation as the borrowing of someone else's form. Mystique sighed as these thoughts ran through her head for the tenth time that day.
She loved her mutation but it seemed like a joke that God should give her a body that was far from presentable in any modern society and still give her the gift of shapeshifting. She wondered if her son felt the same way. Kurt probably felt God's gift to be more cruel than humorous. He was not presentable either but the only gift he was given was to disappear.
Mystique sighed again, reminding herself that thinking about Kurt was a waste of her time because she would never see him again. Her only contact with him was through Irene's visions. It was through Irene that Mystique knew that her son was still alive and that he was soon to manifest his secondary mutation. Mystique shook herself out of her thoughts not even allowing herself to be consumed by thoughts of her eldest son.
* * *
Magneto frowned from aboard the plane. Mystique had not reached her first checkpoint yet. He was beginning to wonder if he should try to contact her. He convicned himself not to, should anyone hear his voice over the device Mystique was wearing, it would be disastrous. Instead Magneto willed himself to wait in patience.
* * *
As Mystique strolled confidently down the halls of the Pentagon, dressed as a Colonel, she felt the eyes of several women roaming over her gorgously manly figure. Her victim, Colonel Gray, had been chosen only for his access to several important files, the pysique had been a bonus.
She quickly located the Colonel's office and entered only to find his office full of what seemed to be reporters. As soon as she entered the office the reporters flocked around her like a flock of seagull.
"Colonel Grey, how do you respond to the allegations that you are helping to push Bush to war with Iraq?"
"Colonel Grey, is it true that we should be more concentrated on fighting domestic terrrors? Especially those rumored to be of superhuman quality?"
Colonel Grey placed a finger to his lips to silence the reporters, "First of all, I'm not sure who let you into my office, this is the Pentagon, private property. Secondly, the American public has no reason to worry, war is inevitable at this point and the rumors of 'superhuman' threats," he stressed the words sarcastically, "are just that, rumors." Mystique ran a hand down her tie to straighten it and looked directly ino the eyes of one of the reporters, "Now Miss," she looked at the reporter's badge, "Cheney I suggest you and the rest of your friends leave or I will call security."
To credit her, Cheney did not look intimidated. "Colonel there are a growing number of reports of what the public have dubbed mutants. What are your thoughts?"
*The young and foolish* Mystique thought. "Miss Cheney mass hysteria has always been a weak point of society. Individual people are intelligent, people acting as a group tend to act without thought or reason. Mutants, as you called them, do not exist. Now if you'll turn around you will see my personal security staff ready to escort you out."
Lila Cheney and the reporters that had dared defy the Colonel's previous command found their equipment being taken from them and being roughly escorted out of the office.
Mystique turned back towards the Colonel's desk and began to rumage through his belongings. After finding nothing of value on his computer's harddrive she began to search for any floppy disks. Unfortunatly there were none to be found. She sighed in aggravation and let her eyes come to rest on the personal possetions on the Colonel's desk in hopes of finding a clue. The first thing Mystique noticed was the single picture on the Colonel's desk, one of his family. Mystique frowned at the smiling faces of the Colonel's blonde wife and young, red haired daughter.
*Men like him don't deserve happiness*
It was this thought that brought Mystique to realization. Except for this picture in its tiny frame, the office was void of personal touches. She turned the frame around and read a message written in what appeared to be a woman's handwriting.
My Dear Husband,
Discoveries of pain are completely, utterly behind us. Any of the fridged misgivings we once have are no longer. Keep this picture to remind you.
Mystique's eyes narrowed as she began to understand the message. Systematically she began to mentally dispose of selected words until she was left with MY DISCS ARE BEHIND THE FRIDGE. She had learned the code several years ago on another job.
She got up and located the small office refridgerator and ran her hand behind it. She felt something plastic and pulled it out. Victorously she held a small package of discs.
As she began to run the discs through the computer she thought *He should have known better that to use a false letter. The first give away was the lack of signature.*
As the first graph popped up on her screen Mystique became more focused. She interpretted the information as thourougly as possible before deciding that these were indeed the discs she needed.
"Who the hell are you!?"
Mystique looked up into the eyes of a bewildered Colonel Grey.
* * *
From aboard the plane Magneto began to pace with an uncharacteristic unease. Mystique was not only late to check in but he was sure that someone was bound to notice their aircraft hidden in the dense wooded area they had hidden it in.
* * *
"I'll repeat it once more," Colonel Grey warned, reaching for what had to be a gun, "Who the hell are you?"
Mystique was stupified, How had she not heard his footsteps?
Colonel Grey pulled his gun out into full view, pointing it directly at what appeared to be his own face.
Mystique pulled herself together and stood up with authority, "No, who are you and why are you in my office?"
Colonel Grey faltered for a spilt second and that was all Mystique needed. She launched herself into the air and knocked the Colonel onto his back. As he let go of his gun, Mystique grabbed hold of it. She deftly rendered Colonel Grey unconcious before morphing into the form of one of the janitors she had seen as she had entered the building.
Closing the office door behing her, she quickly left the office only to be stopped by the voice of a security officer. "Stop right there!"
Mystique turned to face the officer. She put on a slightly intimidated mask, just what the officer would expect from a lowly janitor. Unfortunatly for her the officer was not buying it.
For the second time Mystique found a gun being pointed at her.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Derek Fern I've worked here as a janitor for-"
"Cut the crap!" the officer told her. "I don't know who..or what, you are but I've already called for backup."
"B-but I haven't done anything wrong," she insisted in the voice of the janitor.
"We have cameras set up all over this building, including the inside of Colonel Grey's office."
*Crap*
"Put your hands above your head."
Mystique hesitated.
"Do it now!"
She placed her palms on her head.
"Good now-"
The lights flickered and the officer glanced upwards.
Mystique reacted instinctively and karate chopped the man's arm. She pulled him by the neck to eyelevel, "That's what you get for being easily distracted," she smiled at the fear in his eyes and grabbed his gun. Keeping it trained on him she said, "Now say goodnight." She felt a searing pain in her chest and she dropped the gun.
"Goodnight," the officer said smugly.
Mystique turned slowly and looked into the eyes of another officer. Looking down she could already see the blood start to pour. "No," she croaked. Images of her children rushed to the forefront of her eyes.
The officer that shot her pushed her to the ground and cuffed her, taking full advantage of the delerium he knew she was feeling from pain. The next few moments were a blur to the second officer. He found himself being lifted off of Mystique and thrown into his collegue. Before either one knew it they were unconscious.
* * *
Mystique sat quietly in the back of the plane. Magneto was treating her gunshot wound carefully. He tried to look her in the eyes but she kept avoiding his gaze.
"Mystique talk to me."
She did not, instead she shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
"Alright, at least tell me if you are feeling any discomfort."
"In my back," she said slightly dazed.
"Why?" Magneto asked genuinly confused.
"I don't know."
"Let me see," Magneto helped her up and turned her around. Under her clothes he made out what could have been bumps and bruises. He placed his hands against the bumps and found that they were not bumps but "A gun and the discs."
Mystique laughed humorlessly, "I had that damn Colonel's gun the whole time."
Magneto shook his head, after he treated the relatively minor bullet wound, he and Mystique would have to have a talk about losing focus.
Hillary Farmer continued to look at her traveling companion. They had flown their own aircraft to Canada to one of Raven's own secret bases. From there they caught a flight back to Mississippi. Erik had indeed tried to talk to Raven about her focus on her missions but she had purposely shut him out. She hated to admit it, even to herself, but he was right, she had lost focus in a major way. Had Magneto not thought to come and play the rescuer she might have ended up dead or in some lab. She shuddered and felt tears burn the backs of her eyelids.
* * *
Marie felt the sun's rays fall across her body. Tuesday afternoon and Marie was lying lazily on her bed, window open, listening to a tape Dominic had given her. It had been labeled London Calling and Dominic had assured her that it was the best punk album ever produced. So far Marie had to agree.
"London calling to the faraway towns," she began to sing along to the title track, "Now that war is declared and battle come down..."
Dominic sat in the room next to Marie's, smiling. He had talked to Marie late into the night, convincing her that he was not a bad person, that he really did want to get to know her. He was happy that he was bale to find music they both liked, he loved that she had given him a tip to win Mica over.
* * *
Mica flipped through the channels on the television in her bedroom. Nothing was on. She sighed and actually resorted to doing her homework.
Ring!
She looked at her phone in annoyance. "Hello?" she picked up the phone.
"Step by step ooh baby," Dominic began to sing, feeling incredibly foolish, "Gonna get to you girl. Step by step ooh baby, really want you in my world. hey girl in your eyes I see a picture of me all the time and girl when you smile you got to know that you drive me wild." Mica smiled brightly. "Step by step ooh baby you're always on my mind step by step ooh girl I really think its just a matter of time." Mica giggled. When he finished singing Dominic asked, "So what do you say Mica? Would you like to go to the movies with me friday?"
* * *
"She said yes!"
Marie looked at Dominic's jumping figure in confusion. he had just burst into her room while she was listening to the tape. "What? Who said yes?"
"Mica!" Dominic's eyes danced, "She said she'd go out on a date with me!"
Marie smiled, "So mah advice worked?"
Dominic nodded excitedly, "Who would have thought a New Kids song would help me out." He stopped suddenly, "But what am I supposed to wear? I've never been on a date." He looked at Marie.
"Don't look at me, Ah don't date."
Dominic collapsed to sit on the floor, "What am I going to do?"
Marie shook her head, "Dominic maybe ya should ask Pietro, he's all GQ, maybe he would know."
He took only one second to consider what she was saying before shaking his head, "Naw, Pietro hates my guts and more importantly I can't stand him."
"No one can," Marie told him, "That's part of his charm." She pressed the pause button on her boom box, "but if ya really want good tips ya gotta suck it up."
Her newly found friend sighed in agitation, "Fine, where is he?"
She shrugged, "Haven't seen him o' Wanda since this morning."
"Maybe he's watching TV downstairs." Without waiting for Marie, Dominic made his way down the hall then down the stairs.
Marie pressed play and sank into more music by her new favorite band, the Clash.
* * *
"Yo what's up?" Pietro high fived the members of his clique.
"Yo Pietro how's it been, aint seen you around here lately."
Pietro ran a hand through his smooth white locks and answered, "What can I say Craig? So many girls, so little time."
The other boys in his clique laughed as though Pietro was the funniest man in the world.
"Speaking of girls," Craig said, "What's up with that Mica girl?"
Pietro shrugged, "I lost interest in her, not good enough for me."
"I don't know," Craig continued, "I hear she only has eyes for that guy that lives with you. What's his name?"
"Dominic," Pietro told him sourly, "Don't remind me of that loser."
Todd, another of Pietro's friends, spoke up, "Why do you live with him anyway? I've heard the rumors around school that your dad just took him in to be nice, adopted him and all that but I don't know if it's true."
Pietro nodded, recognizing the cover story they were supposed to remember, "Yup that's right."
"So why didn't you live down here until this year?" Todd asked.
"When my parents divorced my mom got custody of Wanda and I. But she got remarried and decided it would be better for us to live with our dad. She didn't know that he had already adopted another child but hey it all worked out."
"So why do ya'll live with Marie's family?" Another boy, Joshua, asked.
Pietro smiled cooly, "My dad and Miss Farmer were friends from way back and when my parents got divorced he needed a place to stay. Since they grew up together Miss Farmer said it would alright for him to live with her and her half sister Irene." Pietro shrugged, "he just never moved out and now we all live there."
Todd laughed uneasily, "I don't know man, living with Marie might give me the creeps."
Pietro frowned, "What do you mean?"
"Come on man," Josh started, "haven't you heard what people say about her?" Pietro shook his head. "They say that she wears all that clothing all the time because she has some kind of rare skin disease that makes her like a vampire or something."
Todd nodded, "Yeah and I heard that she's one of those weird mutant things."
Pietro looked at Todd sharply, "What weird mutant things?"
Craig picked up the conversation, "Oh come on Pietro haven't you heard? Those mutants have been on the news all freakin' week. They've come to destroy us all and eat our brains through our noses."
Pietro laughed uneasily, "So what makes you think Marie's like that?"
"Dude she wears so many clothes, even in the summer, which I know you haven't found out yet. And she never really talks to anyone but Mica. Hope Mica is on her toes, she could be Marie's next victim."
Pietro frowned at Craig's stupidity.
Luckily Craig mistook the frown as one of concern, "Just stay on top of things Pietro. We don't want you to fall victim to one of those damn muties they're nothing but trouble."
* * *
"Pietro are you down here?"
"No, he's out with some friends," Irene's voice came from her office on the first floor.
"Damn."
"What was that young man?"
Dominic mentally kicked himself, "I said darn."
"That's what I thought.
The boy sighed and collapsed on the couch. He reached for the remote and turned the big screen television on. CNN had come to be his favorite channel. He, unlike many children, actually enjoyed learning what was going on.
The big nosed anchor sat upright, "More mutant hysteria is threatening to break out in New York City. More and more people are certain they've seen strange creatures crawling in and out of the city's sewer system."
Dominic was instantly hooked, hadn't Erik told him that he might be a mutant?
"We'll go to Gary Fredrick in the New York. Fredrick..."
"Yes Don I am standing in front of Times Square where a large group of protesters have gathered. As you can see they are demanding that the government tell them all that they know." Fredrick stopped a man involved with the protest, "Excuse me sir? Can you tell me what exactly is going on?'
The man sneered,"Can't you see? The government is trying to take us over with their Area 51 freaks!"
Fredrick turned back towards the camera, "As you can see, some participants have become truley delusional." He pressed her index finger to his ear, "Wait, we have recieved word from Washington, something has happened in the Pentagon!"
The scene changed quickly. Instead of Fredrick in front of a large group of protesters there was commotion. Several Metro policemen accompanied firetrucks and paramedics to help clear out a crowd of reporters in front of the Pentagon. One of the reporters was none other than Lila Cheney. She stood in front of the mess of confusion to talk to the camera.
"As you can tell from the scene behind me there was an emergency here in the Pentagon. Accordign to witnesses two mutants attacked the men and women of the Pentagon without care." Dominic's eyes bugged out. "According to the report, one of the mutant duo was a male seemingly capable of controlling the metal around him," Dominic heard a gasp and realized that Marie and Irene were now in the room. "The second mutant was a shapeshifter, changing from one identity to the next without revealing its sex. This mutant however, was shot through the chest" Irene brought a hand to her mouth. "It is beleived they were after confidential information for reasons unknown. What the police do know is that several employees of the Pentagon were badly hurt, none mortally, but all were left with scars. It seems as though this 'mutant hysteria' is becoming reality."
* * *
Wanda stared at the television screen in disbelief. She had decided, against better judgement, to ditch school and spend the day wandering the city. Now she was staring at one of the televisions at the local mall trying to make heads or tails of what she had heard.
* * *
It was almost ten in the evening before Raven graced the doorknob of her home with her presence. As Erik followed her she knew they would be alright, they were home after all. She opened the door and found five concerned pairs of eyes trained on her.
"Hi honey I'm home!" she faked cheerfullness.
Irene stood up angrily as Raven knelt down to hug Marie. "Raven you're all over the news." She looked at Erik, "You too!"
Raven paled, "Come again."
Erik closed the door, "Was it about the Pentagon?"
"What else would it be about?" Irene asked.
Erik looked the children,"Go on to sleep."
"But-"
"Now Pietro."
All four children grumbled as they climbed the stairs. Marie stopped them at the top of the staircase and indicated that they could hear the adults' conversation from there.
* * *
Irene sat on the edge of the sofa, waiting.
Raven noted the way Irene crossed her arms in a slow deliberate manner. "Irene there's no reason to be angry."
Irene glared at Erik, "Is this true?"
"Well, um," Erik was flustered.
Raven stepped in, "What Erik is trying to say is that, yes this was a horrible mission. We obviously did not exit as stealthily as we would have liked but-"
Irene cut her off, "No buts. Tell me exactly what happened."
Erik sighed and recanted their story exactly as it happened. Irene's expression became unreadable. Both Erik and Raven looked as though they were awaiting punishment.
When Irene finally spoke it came out as a whisper, "Did you get the bullet wound taken care of?"
Raven nodded, "Luckily it missed my heart and managed not to hit any arteries."
"Lucky."
Raven nodded.
Erik spoke, "The mission wasn't a complete bust, we did manage to get Grey's discs."
Irene's eyes focused on Erik's form, "You idiots risked your lives for a few damned discs."
"Irene honey," Raven began, "The discs could be the break we've been waiting for."
Irene shook her head, "How many times have I heard that? How many times have you talked me into believing that your risking your life to work with that Essex man would be 'the break we need'?" Irene stood up, "You two might have found your precious break but at what cost? You've finally exposed mutants to the rest of the world and knowing Xavier he's on your trail right now."
Erik interjected, "Irene this house is laced with enough of our metal to scramble his Cerebro."
Irene frowned, "Erik its been years since you worked with the man. How do you know that the metal still dampens Cerebro's power?" Erik's silence only managed to irritate Irene further. "And what about the children? Did you two even think about them?"
"Of course we did," Erik told her. "I thought a great deal of Wanda and Pietro and I'm sure Raven thought of Marie every step of the way. That's why we have to do this, to secure their futures."
Irene's gaze settled on a very uncomfortable Raven, "And you. I have no doubt in my mind that this mission's partial failure was due to your irresponsibility." Not even Raven's wounded look stopped Irene, "You need to take your big head out of the clouds and concentrate on the here and now. You are NOT the Great Warrior you like to think yourself to be."
"Irene," Erik said gently.
"And what do you want Erik? Your goal since you moved in with us has been to take Raven for yourself? Have you finally found a way to do that? Fill her head with ideas of domination meanwhile making me look like the bad guy and having this shit come between us?" A tear rolled down Irene's cheek.
"Irene," Raven reached for her lover.
Irene shrugged her hand off. "No."
From the top of the stairs the kids could hear a door open and close.
* * *
Dominic crawled into bed with a heavy heart. Neither one of them, Raven nor Erik, had thought of his well being the whole time they were on the mission. He tried to tell himself it didn't matter, that they weren't his parents anyway so why care. He wasn't sure why it mattered to him but it did and it hurt.
* * *
Wanda slid into her velvety bed angrily. How dare she! How dare Irene accuse her father of such selfish acts! It was him that had helped her and her brother by getting them the best doctors. It was her father that took the time out of his life to help Irene and Raven with their plans and helped them get the papers to legally take over the land that the house was sitting on. How dare that jealous bitch treat her father, who wanted no more than to see others succeed, like scum.
* * *
Pietro quickly went to his room. Rather than sleep he sat atop his covers, confused. He wondered what Irene had meant by saying that his father wanted Raven. He wondered if it could be true, could his father have ulterior motives? He had never given his father's character any thought. His father had never been there when he was growing up, he had always been with his mom and he knew his father sent generous checks every month but he knew almost nothing else. Could Erik really be responsible for how mutants were being perceived? The words of his friends came back to him "We don't want you to fall victim to one of those damn muties, they're nothing but trouble."
* * *
Marie wrote in her diary.
I'm not completely surprised about any of it. I guess I should be but it makes so much sense, except for whoever that Essex guy is.
I wish things didn't have to be this way. I want things to go back to the way they were a few years ago, before Wanda and Pietro and Dominic. I want everything to revert to normalcy. I guess it is kind of odd that I thought of it as normal I mean homosexual parents, a strange man living in my home and missions to save a new generation of humans that no one knew about.
Before today I never really thought about the innocence that used to be my shelter. Although I always saw the oddities of my family life, of my world really, I always though of them as comfortable. I know that Wanda and Pietro, as much as they would disown it, really found comfort in the hospital. When something comes that frequent it is like shelter from the pain of the outside world. And poor Dominic, he knew nothing but the street life for so long, came to know it like a surrogate family, depended on the streets to keep him safe and then was thrown into a world he knows nothing about. I feel as though a chapter of my life is closing tonight and with it I, we all, have found the end of innocence.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Yeah! Finally this chapter has come out the way I wanted it to! Shout out to the following......
Tammy: I was afraid Marie was a little too harsh on him but then I thought about her personality and how he violated her privacy and let her do whatever she wanted. The ending of that chapter actually came off exactly how I wanted it to although I'm not sure about Marie's relationship with Wanda, we'll just have to wait and see.
Panther Nesmith: GO 80s! have you watched VHI's I love the 80s? It so totally rocked. Anyway, about the story, I can't wait to reveal what Mystique and Magneto need with Sinister or what's up with the dreams. As for Wanda, we'll just chalk it up to hormones.
Ishandahalf: I always look forward to your reviews, they're so fun to read. Yup I guess we've all noticed that Rogue is a messed up kid but I can't reveal what the dreams are about, yet. Just out of curiosity, who do you like better, Dom or Pietro? As for Wanda and Marie trying to become friends, I'm not exactly sure how that's gonna work out. I'll keep it coming like a bunny on crack!
LiLRogue: Alright, alright, no need for anymore threats, I updated! Thanks for the compliments! I can't wait for Rogue's powers to manifest.that's when the real fun begins!
Okay, one chapter down, more to go! You all see the GO button down there, do your thing and I'll update soon!