Author Note: Wow, I have not updated this fanfic for about a year. I must start off with a sincere apology to those of you who are/were a fan of this particular work of mine. It's just that it has been a stressful two years for me, I've had to switch universities, changed my major so many times (although I have finally settled on Biochemistry), and have gone through too many emotional rollercoasters that I lost track of everything else. Not to mention the computer I had all the original word files for this fanfic (including the next two chapters) had its motherboard charred due to my boyfriend being just a plain idiot (he forgot to turn the computer off while he was installing a new cd-burner for me). Also I completely forgot my password and email this account was registered with. Not to mention that X-Men Evolution has long since concluded, much to my dismay (I signed a petition to get it back, alas, it did not work oo) But for those of you who are still interested in this fanfic, I hereby submit to you my formal apology, as well as my promise that I will not let you down again (at least without a warning first).
Disclaimer: I do not own X-men Evolution, the X-men collection (what ever adjective you want to throw in from of the word X-men... Uncanny, Astonishing, New, or as I would so name them if I did fact owned X-men, The Spiffy X-men), nor do I own any characters affiliated with the syndication. If I did, then the show would still be on then wouldn't it?
For the next few hours, every corner of the mansion was draped in silence. The early morning rush to Bayville's local schools had long since dissipated. Ororo, Hank, and Logan had done their parts in attempting to clean up the damage done to the estate; however, the Professor had decided that their efforts were best needed elsewhere. The mansion was vulnerable and needed protection, not to mention the sick bay had two occupants that needed attention. With the trio separated to guard and watch over the occupants of the mansion, Xavier made several phone calls to his sponsors as well as the nearby construction company. He sighed outwardly; he pretty much had the company on speed dial at this point with the frequent visits they made to the school. Although many members of the company had great distaste for the "type" of customers they were serving, money had a way of clouding people's judgments and turning them into helpful people. And in a mutant sanctuary such as Xavier's, there was always a source of business.
Meanwhile, Rogue had managed to convince Dr. Hank that she was in good enough health to leave the med bay. Thankfully for the young mutant, her impromptu "nap" had allowed her an escape from the interrogation and gossip that would have awaited her if she had made it to the table in the morning. There was no doubt in her mind that the early morning break-in was the main topic of every conversation taking place that morning. If the kids had not stirred at the loud explosions that shook the house in the early morn, the surely the large scorch marks that riddled the front year and the destroyed hallway downstairs surely left them with some unanswered questions.
"Hhmphf," Rogue mumbled to herself as she rummaged through her drawers for her burgundy fishnet gloves. She let out a quicky "Ah ha!" as she located the missing articles and quickly slipped them on her arms. Although she had long since exchanged her simple sports bra for an additional oversized Lacuna Coil shirt, she still felt somewhat naked without something covering her forearms and hands. Why wouldn't she though? She mused to herself as pulled the fingertip-less gloves over her left hand. Her skin was a weapon, one which could take life away by a mere touch.
Rogue quickly paused at the thought as she caught sight of herself in the dresser mirror. "Ah could have killed him last night," she thought to herself as she moved in closer to the mirror. "Ah could have hurt anyone of them last night. Ah was completely exposed, all the Acolyte needed to do was merely toss me at Scott or Kurt and Ah could have taken them out." Rogue scowled at the idea that she could allow anyone to use her in such a manner. It made her sick to her stomach whenever she had to remind herself of the power that she yielded. It also caused a sharp pain to form at the side of her head, just behind her ears.
She quickly brought her hands to the source, squinting her eyes and clutching her head as the pain grew. As it spread to her inner ear, a loud ringing noise reverberated through her ears as she fell to the ground. Suppressing a scream for help, she began to hit her forehead again the oak drawer. "Stop it!" she hissed as the noise grew. "Stop it right NOW!" The last portion of her command quickly spread through the empty, quiet halls of the mansion.
"All right," Logan said gruffly as he idly played in the unused I.V. lines that hung over the medical counter. "Let's start this all at the beginning."
"Well, homme, Ah'm told dat de day Ah was born was sunny one in May. De flowers were in bloom and de bees were out doin' dere thing..."
"Cram the bullshit, Gumbo," the Canadian growled as he moved forward claws unsheathed.
"Whose bullshittin'?" the young man said holding his arms up in mock defense. "Gambit meybe born on a very beautiful day, how would you know otherwise?"
"You know more than you're saying, punk," the older mutant roared as he brought his claws within inches of the young man's face. "What the hell does Magneto want with us now?"
"Damn, homme, dat Xavier a shrink, right? He can't put you on some kind of prozac?" Gambit said, his smirk never leaving his face as death loomed within inches. Thankfully, the young mutant had mastered his poker face at the tender age of eight years old. Staying cool under pressure and covering up your anxiety was the trademark of an excellent thief and con-man, especially one of his caliber. Even though his heart nearly jumped out of his chest, he still managed to maintain his calm looks. Too bad he forgot that he was attached to a heart monitoring system, making the two X-men presentLogan ad Hankcompletely aware that the tactics were starting to take their proper effect.
Nevertheless, Logan was still irked with the cocky young mutant. He truly didn't like the boy, especially after the incident with Rogue. He didn't understand why Charles had decided to keep the young boy here. Then again, with the amount of blatant distaste for mutants going around and the obvious physical characteristics the young man had to indicate him as a mutant, handing him over to the authorities did not seem like a great idea. Also, the chances of Magneto breaking the young man out would have increased, thus adding more human-mutant tension than there should be needed. Okay, so maybe it did make sense to leave the young man on the estate, but it still did not mean that the young man was less annoying.
"Hank! Come quick! Rogue's passed out again!"
Ororo's shouts broke through the thick tension between the two mutants. Hank, whom had been monitoring the young man's vitals throughout the interrogation was quickly drawn out from his small note-taking. With his superhuman speed and agility, the Beast quickly met with the weather witch at the entrance of the med bay. Taking the fragile young girl in his arms, he quickly laid her down on the cot. He quickly broke out his stethoscope and concentrated on her vitals. For a brief moment, Logan's attention was brought away from his interrogation onto the young mutant girl. Shooting a glance back at the Louisianan, whom looked over at the scene curiously. Logan growled in a low voice as he pulled the curtains in front of the boy's view, "This isn't over kid. Now I believe I asked you why Magneto sent you here."
Magneto paced slowly as the images of his remaining Acolytes played on the television screens before him. If there was one thing the master of magnetism could not stand, it was incompetence. Scratch that, there was actually something he could stand even less, and that was failure. They had failed to distract the elder X-men long enough, failed to download the disc, and failed to retrieve their teammate. Failure would not be tolerated, not at all. First, they would train, harder than he had ever train them before. Push them to their limits until they bled, as long as he could condition them not to fail him in such a way again. Until then, however, he had time on his hands. Time to decide on how to go about retrieving his lost Acolyte, or whether or not it was even worth the effort at this point. He had failed him most of all. Not surprisingly, the boy was young. But he would pay dearly for that mistake. None of themnot Charles and his weak collection of mutant children, Mystique and her group of morons, not even his own teamnone of them understood the severity of the situation at hand. None of them knew how to stop the oncoming darkness that was about to fall both mutant and human kind. No, last night's attempts made it painfully clear of that. No, now it was time to step it up a notch. He'd stop the oncoming darkness if it was the last thing he would ever do.
"You have one new message. To hear your message, please press 1 or wait for the..."
The numerical tone quickly followed. Raven Darkholme was never quite a patient person. Especially when it came to her plans. "We're running out of time, Raven," the female voice replied on the other end. "The course of both of your fates is beginning to change rapidly. In order to secure your place in the new world order, you must get her immediately."
She scoffed as she pressed the number seven on her keypad, thereby deleting the annoying message left by Destiny. No, Raven was not a patient person, especially when it came to revenge and getting what she felt she deserved. But the time was coming, and soon she could exact her vengeance. There was only one thing left standing in her way. But not for long...