X-MEN?

Well, Ah guess it's good that Ah found one of those mutant settlements, but now they are havin' some sort of sit down with meh ta explain everythin'. Apparently most of them were X-men. Can it get any worse. Ah find what Ah'm lookin' for, and Ah used ta beh on their top ten list of bad guys. At least they don't know who Ah am. Momma kept meh hidden pretty well, and if'n Ah had to ever see them, momma had meh use her abilities so they wouldn't know who Ah was. Only one ever ta see meh was Ms. Marvel. But from what Ah was told about Wolverine, he probably had a clue because of mah smell. He just isn't sure about meh. Don't matter none ta meh. They don't know a whole lotta about meh, and the telepaths can't read mah mind cause of all the chaos. Lucky meh.

"So your gonna let meh stay here. Why? What do ya want with meh? Ah didn't expect it ta be

this easy."

"Well Rogue, it's simple. We just want the world to accept mutants without fear or prejudice.

Even though everything is in turmoil right now just means that are mission will be that more

necessary. If we sit back and do nothing there will be far worse things happening all over the

world, including here." Ororo says.

"Ya, Ah understand, but they wanna put us in camps. Ah'm pretty sure that means that we are

not just a bunch of outlaws because of our genes, but that a war has already begun."

"The humans think that we were the ones to innciate it because of Apocalypse. They are merely

acting upon their fears. We have to show them that the actions were the act of one not acting on

the behalf of the many."

"So what do ya want with meh? Ah don't truely believe that ya are lettin' meh stay here in simple

kindness, especially with the warm welcomin' and all."

"Wolverine has some issues and problems to deal with on his own. All that we ask is that you

think joining us in our mission. You may stay here either way. We will not force the issue."

"Thank you, Ah will give it some thought."

"Good, I will get someone to show you around the camp and we will fix this door so that you

may stay here for as long as you wish. But we will need some other information regarding your

powers and maybe some tests run by our doctor to make sure that you are in good health, if that

is alright with you."

"Ah suppose. But this person will not be Wolverine again will it? If it is, Ah would like ta know

ahead of time."

"I understand, and no, I will make sure that it will be someone a bit more...welcoming."

With that she left.

So Ah'm sittin' in mah cabin for the better part of an hour finishin' up the dinner Ah didn't get

much of a chance at eatin' earlier, when someone decides ta knock.

"Ya know there ain't a door, so it's obviously open."

When Ah turn around, it's that guy with the glasses Ah saw earlier. He's still wearin' 'um too and its clearly dark outside.

"Hello. My name is Scott. Everyone around here calls me Cyclops. I am here to show you

around. I hope your dinner was ok. Sometimes Jean gets a little carried away when it's her time

to cook."

"It was fine. Let me just grab mah glove and jacket."

He seems awkward with the silence as we walk so Ah decide to make conversation.

"So whats with the glasses?"

"It's part of my mutation. I shoot beams out of my eyes but I can't control it. These are special

glasses that help keep it in check. I am quite surprised that you were able to go without your

jacket and gloves in that cabin. It's quite cold out here, and being without ah..um door, even

with the fire seems pretty cold."

"Don't matter none to meh, can't hardly feel it. Only wear the stuff ta keep mah skin covered

up."

"Why is that? So the humans don't know."

"Somethin' like that."

"Well over here is where you can take a shower, we try to keep it quick to keep the water warm.

Amara usually checks on it. The bathrooms aren't far from here either."

"That's not too bad. So do Ah have ta meet everybody."

"You can, but we will save that for tomorrow. I think we have had enough excitment here for the

day. By the way, I am really sorry for the way Wolverine acted today. We just don't know how

to deal with him sometimes. If it helps anything, he doesn't like a whole lot of people, so I am

sure it has nothing to do with you personally."

"Ah don't care, as long as he stays away from meh. Otherwise Ah will show him where he can

stick those claws. Does he like you?"

"Nope. Can't say that he ever has. This is the kitchen, we usually take turns cooking. I'm sure

Jean will set you up with dates and times of what you can do and when according to your

talents."

"Well cookin' ain't really one of 'em." Ah snorted.

"It's ok. Not a lot of us are."

"Can Ah ask ya a question?"

"Shoot."

"This X-men business. Ya one of'em?"

"Sure am. In fact, Bobby likes to joke around and call me the 'Fearless Leader'."

"Ororo, she never mentioned whay ya'll called the X-men."

"Well for starters, not everybody here are. Some of them are too young, others too old. It started

out with a man named Charles Xavier. He helped a lot of us to learn how to control our powers.

He formed the X-men. I was the first one he took under his wing. He was like a father to me.

We fought for peace among humans and mutants, but we did so quietly

so that we wouldn't scare people. Eventually it got out though."

"Wish Ah would have met him. He here, maybe he could help meh with mine?"

That is when he stops and just starts ta find his feet very interestin'.

"Well,um...you see, he..um he's dead."

"Oh, Ah'm sorry, Ah didn't mean..Ah"

"No, no it's ok. You didn't know. We found out what Apocalypse was doing and he thought he

could talk to him about him. Maybe enlighten him. It didn't work though. We thought

Apocalypse killed him, but what he did was turn him into one of his four horsemen. He

inhanced Xavier with some sort of alien technology and when Apocalypse was killed by the

virus, it killed his horseman also."

"But wasn't it his horsemen that started destroyin' all those major cities?"

"Yes, yes it was. But it took them longer to die from the virus because they were still not as

advanced as Apocalypse. The virus stayed within them longer before it started to work. Each of

them died within two weeks. But because of that incident, the legacy virus is out there and in full

force. It has found mutant DNA and now the whole world is in trouble."

"Ah see."

"It's getting pretty late. Tomorrow will be a big enough day for you, so you should probably get

some sleep. Your door has probably been fixed by now anyhow."

"Yeah, ya'll are right. Thank ya fo' showin' meh around though. Ah can probably make it back

on mah own."

"Good night Rogue."

"Night."