Undying Hearts Chapter 2: In Shades of Black, a x-men: evolution fanfic

Whoa, so many reviews! Yeesh, didn't think y'all would like it so much! Well, as I said, it's only the beginning. Thanks for all of your support though. I really appreciate it yadda yadda ya I'm running out of steam. Ugh. Hehe, I'll shut up now. On to da fic!!!

Disclaimer: My story, Marvel's characters, plus a few OCs that I just made up off the top of my head. If you want them, use them. Whatever. This story will probably suck anyhow. Okay, enough self-pity. On with the show!!!

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Chapter 2 – In Shades of Black

"Miss Darkholme! Pay attention!"

Rogue's head flew up immediately. "Hmm? What?"

The white-haired professor groaned. "For the ump time, Miss Darkholme, what is the chemical formula for copper II nitrate?"

Rogue blinked and looked around. Dammit, Ah hate chemistry!

She quickly looked to Betsy Braddock, her best friend who was also sitting next to her. Man, whah didn't she wake me up sooner?

Betsy gave her an apologetic look.

"No, Miss Darkholme," said the professor. "We won't be looking to friends for answers today." With that he pointed a finger at Betsy, causing her to straighten and freeze in place.

Shoot! thought Rogue. Now her dosing off got her friend stuck in one of Professor Lensherr's "attention trances."

"Well?"

Rogue gulped and looked at the board. The chemical symbols for the substances were there, but to her they didn't mean much. It was a jumble of letters and tiny numbers. She bit her bottom lip in concentration.

"Oh please! I've had enough of your act!" cried out Prof. Lensherr in frustration. "Who knows the answer?"

A hand immediately shot up.

The professor now smiled. "Yes?"

"Cu(NO3)2 ," replied a silver-haired boy in the middle of the room.

"That is correct, Pietro. Now, since we have that out of the way, let us turn to page –"

The bell rang. Prof. Lensherr groaned again. "Well class, that will be all for today. You may be dismissed." He then released Betsy from his spell. He turned to the other girl beside her with her face behind a book. "Miss Darkholme, may I see you after class?"

Rogue sighed. She shot her "best friend" a deathly glare, then gathered her things and marched over to the teacher's desk.

"I'll wait for you outside, luv," called Betsy as she dashed out. She nearly collided with two other girls. One of them, a blonde, cried out in surprise, "Hang on! Slam on those brakes, girl!"

The other, a brunette wearing a high ponytail, giggled at her companion's comment. "Yeah, Betsy! It's not like the sky is falling! What's the big rush?"

"Oh wait, that's right!" shouted the blonde. "You're coming out of 'Professor Scrooge's class!' I forgot you have him at the end of the day."

"Thanks for your understanding, Tabitha," growled Betsy sarcastically. "Trust me, you wouldn't be kidding around if you knew wot that place is like."

"Hey, like where's your partner in crime?" giggled the brunette.

"She's inside getting a major lecture from the prof. She dozed off in class."

"Again? Seriously, that girl doesn't get enough sleep! What does she do all night?'

"Well it can't be partying," noted Tabitha, "'cause I've been to every one this past week!"

"Yeah right!" laughed Betsy. "How do you possibly have enough energy?"

"You should try it sometime. It's called . . . caffeine."

Kitty the brunette giggled for the millionth time that day while Betsy rolled her eyes. "You know that stuff isn't good for you, luv. It really stunts your plasma cycles."

"Ah, the afterlife is too short," concluded Tabitha with the wave of her hand. "You really need to grab it by the fangs and make the most of it."

Just then Rogue stepped out of the classroom. She looked like she was going to kill somebody.

More specifically, Betsy.

"Thanks for standing up fer me," growled the skunk head as she leaned into her friends face. "Thanks to your help, I've been given and extra assignment t' do over the vacation!"

"Ouch, that really bites," said Kitty.

"You bet it does! Why weren't you there for me?"

"What could I have done?" asked Betsy in all innocence. "That guy is one of the toughest teachers in school. And believe me, I'm still conscious even when he puts me in that trance and let me tell ya, it's not fun. Besides, it's not my fault you fell asleep in class again! And I can't always be there for you!"

Rogue humphed and folded her arms across her chest. "Well, you could've at least woken me up b'fore Prof. Scrooge came over and asked me that question!"

"I didn't even notice you were asleep!!"

"Okay, can we like talk about this later?" interrupted Kitty. "I mean, school just got out, we have an entire three weeks to have fun, and –"

"And we've got a truck load of boys to catch!" Tabitha interrupted as she grabbed Kitty by the wrist and led her to the courtyard, where students, including boys, were swarming and socializing. Betsy couldn't suppress her laughter as she saw them run off. "She's right, luv." She looked back at Rogue, who was still pretty pissed. "This life is too short. C'mon, let's over to my place and have some time to talk."

Rogue finally started to loosen up. "Ah have a better idea. Whah don't we go over to mah place and talk?"

Betsy raised an eyebrow. "Your foster mum would let you do that?"

A sly smile crept over Rogue's face. "What does it matter? She's not even there."

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For many of its students, the Royal Academy of the Undead was the most ruthless, most boring, most time-wasting place on earth. But for many of the students, they had nowhere else to go.

The vampire community that surrounded the academy was very dependent on it for their children's education. They wanted their children to have an understanding of the world they lived in. But it was too dangerous to send them to some school for humans. It was just not done. Several centuries ago, vampires from all over the world set up the community so that they and their descendants would have a chance to be educated.

However, that didn't change the fact that many of the students hated it. Their teachers were merciless, putting them up to almost extreme expectations that frustrated the children and made them want to give up or drop out. But their families wouldn't let them. Many of them came from a long line of educators and could not afford to disgrace the family name.

The only person who was an exception to this standard of family pride and expectation was Rogue. Why? Because she had no family.

As far back as Rogue could remember and what was told to her years later, she had been orphaned as a baby. The cause was unknown, but left her nonetheless in the hands of the community council. Some sensed a great danger in keeping her around, afraid that she would go renegade or become a juvenile delinquent. However, a blind fortuneteller passed through their community shortly after Rogue was orphaned. She agreed to take the child in, raise it as her own, and be sure to send her to the academy when the time came. Many members of the council distrusted the stranger, but they eventually agreed that it was the best thing to do for the child.

So Rogue grew up in the home of the community's fortuneteller, called Destiny. While Destiny was overall a very good parent, with the required restrictions here and there, she didn't have a lot of time to spend with Rogue as the girl grew older. She left more often to wander the road, no more than a month. Meanwhile Rogue would hang out with children in her neighborhood. One of them belonged to a wealthy but very kind family called the Braddocks. Her friend's name was Elizabeth, but her immediate family and friends called her Betsy. Rogue and Betsy became the best of friends from age twelve onwards. They also befriended Tabitha Smith and Kitty Pride, and together they made an unbreakable force of friendship.

But despite this fellowship she belonged to, Rogue always felt somewhat out of place. She never felt completely comfortable where she was. Not that she was desperate to travel the roads like Destiny, but she did begin to feel upon entering her teen years that maybe she needed to get away for a while. She often thought it over in her head when she sat home alone. She would formulate a plan but never had the guts to put it into action.

Now she had entered her senior year at the academy with Halloween vacation already underway. She had begun to believe that whole idea about leaving was just a bunch of nonsense. Maybe when Ah get older, she would tell herself.

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Rogue and Betsy forced their way through the masses of people that were eager to chat with friends they had only been able to see in the hallways. The academy was a very big school.

"Lucky we got a few classes together, huh?" Betsy told Rogue when they first received their schedules for the year.

The two girls pushed and shoved as they tried to exit the courtyard. "Man, Ah can't believe this!" cried Rogue angrily as the crowd grew tighter. "Ah can hardly breathe in here!"

"Don't worry, we're almost out!" shouted Betsy who had somehow managed to get ahead of her. Rogue had almost reached her when Betsy suddenly vanished before her eyes.

What the –

It was only a second later that she too was swept away at the speed of light. Before she knew it, she and Betsy were safe on the other side of the courtyard. Rogue quickly turned around and realized what had happened.

Pietro was standing in front of her with Betsy still in his arms. Of course, Rogue thought with a growl. It was the teacher's pet, the only student who never got in trouble with any of the teachers. Why? Because if anyone messed with him, his father would always be there to stand up for him. And no one wanted to mess with Professor Lensherr. He was one mean vampire as well as one mean teacher.

"What's up, Pietro?" hissed Rogue. She never liked him despite the fact that almost every other girl in the school was in love with him. Right now, Betsy was a victim of his attention, and she was loving every minute of it.

"Nothin' much, Roguey," he chirped as he dipped Betsy for a lover's embrace.

After several seconds of the caress, Rogue lost her patience. "Are you done yet?"

Pietro decided to release the friend of the nasty one. "Now, don't be jealous!"

This nearly made Rogue's head shoot through the roof. "What in the name of Hades would make you think I'd be jealous?" Her teeth were clenched tight.

"Uh, Rogue, maybe we should go," suggested Betsy, even though she was still savoring the taste of Pietro's lips.

"Now sweetie, lemme answer her question. It's really nothing big, only that you've never had a boyfriend. So it would be completely understandable if you are bothered by watching two people kiss."

Rogue clenched a fist and walked up to him. "If you're girlfriend weren't here, butthead, Ah'd knock your butt of a head off raght now!"

"Okay Rogue, let's go!" said Betsy quickly before either teen could utter another word.

Rogue snarled as she wrenched out of her friend's grasp. "Ah can't believe you lahke that guy! He's such a jerk!"

"I'm really sorry, luv, but you know, you could've been a little more civilized too."

Rogue looked at her friend in shock. "Ah think that boy's smooches are getting' to your head. If that were any other guy, you would've blown up at him!"

Betsy shook her head. "What is it with you, luv? It seems your always trying to put the blame of everything on me!"

Rogue bit her lip and stared at her feet as they walked. "Ah'm sorry. Ah guess . . . Ah guess Ah've been outta sorts lately. Ah haven't been getting' much sleep."

"I thought as much. But why?"

Rogue was silent for a few moments, letting the sounds of the school around them drain into their ears. They walked side by side in uniform, like at a military school. Each girl wore a black sweater, a gray collared blouse, plaid black and gray skirts, black knee-high socks, and black chokers with a rose on them (red on Betsy's, purple on Rogue's). The only difference was the fact that Rogue was wearing a pair of black leather gloves.

At that moment, she looked down at them in contempt that she had for so long been hiding. "Ah've been . . . working."

"On wot?" asked Betsy again. She looked at her friends gloves. "You mean your . . ."

"Yeah, that." Another moment of silence.

Then Rogue continued. "Ah've been staying up late a lot . . . Ah don't know whah really . . . Ah've just felt a need to work on this."

"Did you talk with any of the teachers or councilors about it?"

"Nah. Only Destiny. According to her visions, I would learn to control this through a lot of time meditating and centering myself somehow. But Ah've been doin' it for a week now and nothing's changed."

"Maybe you should talk to Professor Harkness. She's really good at medicine and that kind of stuff."

"No. Ah--ah think this is something Ah need to figure out on mah own." Rogue didn't sound completely sure of herself, but Betsy figured that Rogue was just trying to follow her instincts.

"Well luv, remember that if you need any help, I'll be there for you." She took her friend's hand in hers.

Rogue smiled. "Ah know you will."

"But please, promise me you'll start getting more sleep from now on!"

For the first time that day, Rogue was able to laugh. "Alright, just don't turn into mah mother or something!"

The two girls walked together, now smiling, and left the chatting crowds behind them to where friends could reside for the first few hours of their holiday vacation.

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Well, there you have it. Again. I think the story might be getting a little better. Trust me, there's much more to come. Stick around and review, please please please!!!!