Notes: For some reason, ffnet has deleted the first eighteen chapters of this fic. I, naturally, am extremely pissed off, not because of all the hassle, but because I deleted all the notes once I'd posted the chapter. So, I'd just like to give a general thank you to all the creators of the Dark Roses, apologies to all the people who gave me characters I couldn't use, and give a standard disclaimer that I don't own X-Men: Evolution.
Chapter One
Michelle burst into the large bedroom without knocking, her distant grey eyes wide with fright and her breath coming in ragged gasps.
"Rogue, we got a problem!"
Rogue woke up instantly, no hint of grogginess. As a former X-Man and leader of the Dark Roses, she was used to being woken up at strange hours and had to be alert if she wanted to keep herself and her team alive. "Mutant?" she asked, grabbing her boots from the floor and stepping into them.
"Yeah, but…"
"But what? Michelle, what's wrong?"
Michelle looked at her with terror in her eyes. "It's Jean Grey," she whispered, and Rogue jumped.
"What? No, that's impossible! Jean's dead!"
"It's her, I know it's her, and she's destroying the mall."
Rogue hesitated. It was her job to stop the mutants being controlled by the Agency, but stopping them usually involved killing them. Could she really kill her old friend? And not only that, but would she be able to? Jean was powerful, and with her advanced mental powers that she now had complete control over, she was almost unstoppable. What could she do?
"We're going," she said quietly, grabbing her jacket from the foot of the large bed and shrugging it on. Michelle nodded and sent out a psychic pulse, alerting all the Dark Roses. She felt their minds like a brush against her soul, each one different and unique.
There was Kar Riley, known as Discharge, a swirl of contained energy wrapped around a hard core of pain from the accidental killing of his family when he was thirteen. Kar was as energetic as his electric powers and clashed with Jamie's serious calm frequently.
Selene Andromea, known as Paradox, was a faded brush of light with a softly harsh edge. Selene was a lost soul searching, yearning for a home, not quite daring to hope that she had found it with the Dark Roses.
Ivy Dupree, aka Animal, was a feral cloud of barely-controlled rage and pain interlaced with a fierce loyalty and devotion. Ivy was slightly scared of her mutation, of the beast within her, but she was very slowly learning that she wouldn't hurt or kill those close to her heart.
Envee Waterman, aka Zephyr, was a whirlwind of fresh enthusiasm mixed with a strong will and a fiery temper. Envee was the most street-smart of them and frequently talked herself out of tough situations. And when talking fails, she punches her way out of them.
Jamie Phillips, codename Tempus, was a confusing blend of old and new, a serious mixture of fresh and ancient, with a thirst for knowledge. Jamie was not a fighter, but she was the smartest of them, a child genius at the age of thirteen, and her unique power made her invaluable to the Dark Roses.
She felt them all feel her call and know what it meant. She felt them become alert and tense, and in the case of Envee and Kar, excited. She also felt a spark of excitement from Ivy's beast, but also felt the real Ivy squash that feeling.
Rogue walked down the stairs and out of the house, her team following silently until they were all standing in a circle. Rogue spared a moment to notice how different each Dark Rose was.
Kar was 5"7 with deep purple hair and shocking green eyes. His slender yet muscular frame was hidden by a black t-shirt with the sleeves ripped off, a torn-up pair of jeans held together with safety pins, black combat boots, and a black trench coat. He looked very much like the young punk rocker he was. He was also the only male Dark Rose, after Gary had been killed two weeks ago. He grinned at Rogue and his eyes flashed purple, the colour they turned when he used his powers, showing his eagerness for battle.
Ivy was one inch taller than Kar, with a slender, slightly muscled body. Her jet-black hair was straight and chin-length, her amber eyes unobstructed by bangs. She was wearing her usual outfit of loose blue jeans, a loose yet well-fitting tee shirt, and flip flops. The outfit was designed to let her shift into her animal form easily and not shred her clothing. She had discovered that wearing tight clothing and then morphing left her naked when she returned to her human form. She looked at Rogue and gave a calm nod, acknowledging Rogue's authority over her. Ivy didn't do well with authority unless she respected it, and it had taken a few object lessons for Ivy to trust Rogue.
Envee was exactly the same height as Ivy, and had a pretty similar body in that she was slim but muscular. She had been born with green hair, but had dyed it black, leaving some green streaks for cool factor. Her eyes were a completely normal dark brown. She was wearing a black long sleeve tight shirt with a white star in the middle, with jeans, black and white converses, black hoops, and black fingerless gloves. She was flexing her hands into fists and then relaxing them again, letting loose small wisps of air from her fingertips that whispered through the grass at their feet.
Selene was 5"6 with dark brown hair pulled into a braid and cool green eyes. Her body was slim, but had the muscles of a trained acrobat. She was dressed in a black spaghetti-strap top, jeans, black tennis shoes, a dark brown trenchcoat, and white gloves. She was rolling her shoulders to loosen her muscles, like any good acrobat did before exercising. She looked at Rogue and smiled.
Michelle was exactly five and a half feet tall, with almost no muscles to speak of. Her shoulder-length hair was a beautiful strawberry blonde and her eyes were grey and distant, as if she were hearing or seeing things that everyone else couldn't. She was wearing faded blue jeans, white tank top, and trainers, a very unremarkable outfit that let her pass unnoticed. She didn't like being noticed.
Jamie was the shortest, unsurprising since she was only thirteen, and because of her young age, didn't know squat about fighting. She had short reddish-brown hair and brown eyes hidden behind round glasses. She was dressed in black trousers and a dark red tee shirt, with trainers. Her fingertips were stained with printing ink from the various newspapers she read daily.
Rogue looked at them all and thought of the mutant they were about to face. She prayed that they would all survive, and in one piece. Then she looked at Jamie and nodded.
"Alright, Jamie, you're up."
The young girl mimicked her nod and then rubbed her hands together, letting out her breath. She concentrated on the ticking of her watch and willed it to slow down, to stop ticking. She wrapped the Dark Roses in a bubble of non-time and felt the air around them still, the noise stop, as if the world had ceased to be. She opened her brown eyes, which were glowing oh so slightly with her power, and nodded again.
"How long can you hold it?" Rogue asked as they began walking at a brisk pace towards town.
"Not long, I haven't eaten yet today. I should be able to get us there, but I won't be able to heal anyone of any major wounds until I've rested a bit."
Rogue looked at everyone else. "Alright, you heard her, you get hurt, you're on your own."
"Well that's simple enough," Kar said, grinning, "We just won't get hurt. What're we up against, anyway?"
Rogue sighed, closing her eyes briefly. "A powerful telekinetic and telepath. She can rearrange things on a molecular level, and hit you with psychic blasts. She's one of the most powerful mutants around. She was supposed to be dead, but apparently not."
"She got a name?" Ivy asked, and Rogue hesitated.
Almost everyone knew the names of the infamous X-Men, but few actually remembered what they looked like. Did she tell her team just who they were fighting? It might prepare them better, but it might also scare them. She had trained them to be prepared for anything and everything, to not make any assumptions and not take any chances.
"No, not that we know of," she eventually said, and then fell silent, her thoughts spinning in her head. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Michelle raise a hand to touch her temple, trying to ease the pain her empathic abilities were making her feel, and the gesture was so like Jean that Rogue's heart skipped a beat.
Jean had always been kind to her, always been there whenever she needed it. And now she was about to try and kill her.
Oh yeah, she was a great friend.