Chapter Six
He was just like the others: crazy, full of rage, out of control, and powerful. Sure, the looks were different, this guy was tall and muscular, with long black hair and bright blue eyes, and there was the fact that his skin was covered in hard black crystal armour and pure white light swirled around him a blazing cloud, but all the Dark Roses saw was that fire of insanity in his eyes.
"Alright, Tempus, Michelle, Discharge, you're on defence, everyone else, attack!"
Everyone instantly obeyed, with Discharge throwing up an ion shield to protect Tempus and Michelle, Animal morphing to her animal self, Paradox creating a sword made of shining white light, and Zephyr creating two balls of wind in her hands and throwing them at Onix. They crashed into his hard armour and evaporated. Onix didn't even flinch.
Animal threw herself at him, claws and teeth scraping against the crystal. She soon realised that biting just gave her a toothache, and jumped back to lash at him with her claws. Rogue fired twice into his chest, only to have the bullets glance off the armour and bury themselves in trees. Animal's claws left the faintest of scratch marks, but nothing else. Zephyr's air blasts were doing nothing. An electricity ball hit Onix in the abdomen and sizzled away into nothing.
"Dammit, Rogue, how are we supposed to get through that goddamn armour of his?" Zephyr shouted, leaping out of the way as Onix threw an energy blast at her. It hit a tree instead and took out a large chunk of bark.
"Just keep trying!"
Zephyr didn't have time for a snappy and irritated comeback, but she really wanted to. She spared the time for a heated glare at her leader and then dodged another ball of energy.
Animal attacked Onix's shoulder, scratching at the part where it turned from shoulder to neck. Onix whirled around and gathered some of the energy that was swirling around him. He threw it and it hit her solidly in the chest. She growled/screamed and flew backwards with the force of it. Discharge created a hole in his ion shield to let Tempus through, and the little girl ran to the wounded mutant.
Healing a wound wasn't really healing, it was just speeding up the natural healing powers of the person's body with her own powers over time. She closed her eyes and concentrated, feeling the body beneath her hands, and accelerating the healing process. The energy hadn't done too much damage, just cracked a rib or two, so it was healed in a moment, and Animal pushed her away as soon as she was healed.
Paradox manoeuvred her way behind Onix and slashed at his back with her sword, creating sparks of white light when the weapon connected with the hard armour. She left a faint scratch mark, but that was it. She was about to try again when Onix whirled and knocked her away. She flew backwards and landed hard on the ground, groaning and trying to catch her breath. She wasn't wounded, and gestured for Tempus to stay where she was.
Michelle hissed in annoyance when Zephyr threw a large wave of compressed air at Onix, but only succeeded in making him take a step back.
"Dammit, we can't win against this guy." She looked around desperately for some way to help, and then frowned when she saw someone half-hiding behind a nearby tree, watching the fight. She recognised him as Lt. Colonel Henry Mitchell and glared.
"Tempus, Discharge, check over there." She pointed to the skulking man and the other two looked. Discharge glared as well and created a ball of electricity.
"Low voltage, we don't want to kill him," Michelle said.
"I know. I'm gonna have to drop the shield to aim, so watch out." The ion shield vanished as Discharge took careful aim. He threw the electricity ball and watched with grim satisfaction as it hit the man in his shoulder and knocked him down and out.
"Rogue, we got Mitchell!" Michelle shouted, running over to the man and making sure he stayed unconscious.
Rogue glanced at her, despite all her training and experience, and the next thing she knew, something hard connected with her jaw and she was flying backwards. She landed with a grunt, and her head slammed into the ground. Black dots swam before her eyes and she fought the urge to be sick.
Moaning, she struggled to get up, but Tempus touched her shoulder and shook her head. Rogue complied and just lay there while the young girl healed her jaw.
"This guy's unstoppable," Tempus whispered, helping her leader sit up.
"Ugh. No one's unstoppable. W-The X-Men defeated Juggernaut numerous times, and if they can do that, we can do this."
"We aren't the X-Men, Rogue! We're not even close!"
"Wrong. We're better." But mentioning the Juggernaut made her remember how the Professor had stopped him. It gave her an idea. "Where's Michelle?"
"Guarding Mitchell."
Rogue's expression went stony and cold, and she felt rage well up inside her, but she firmly pushed it back down. Now was not the time for revenge. She had to end this fight, make sure her team was all in one piece, and then she could get her revenge.
Rogue stood up and walked over to where Michelle was watching over Mitchell. The man was slumped on the ground, the shoulder of his dark suit burnt and singed. Rogue glanced at him, but then ignored him and focused on Michelle.
"You're an empath, right?" she asked, and Michelle frowned, nodding. "Can you project emotions from one person into another?"
"Uh… I… I'm not sure. I've never tried."
"Can you do it?"
"I guess so. Maybe. Why?"
"I want you to project all the calm and peace that's in Tempus to Onix."
"That's… if it works, that's brilliant!"
"Thanks. Focus."
"Right." Michelle moved to where she could see both Tempus and Onix and took a deep breath. She focused on Tempus, who was calm and serious, the desire for the fight to be over breathing through Michelle's mind. Michelle held onto that feeling, and switched her focus to Onix. The controlled mutant was a storm of rage and hatred, all instincts and desires, no thoughts involved. Michelle let that feeling wash over her mind and willed it away, drawing on Tempus' serene calm and pushing it towards Onix.
She frowned, feeling the mutant resist her touch. The rage increased, filling her being and making her clench her fists, but she was stronger than that. With an inarticulate scream, she metaphorically shoved the calm down Onix's throat, pushed it into his heart and willed it to stay there. It did.
Onix grunted and fell down to his knees. The Dark Roses frowned and watched, not understanding what was happening. Michelle pushed again, only absently aware of Tempus' surprised gasp. The black armour coating Onix's body melted into his bronze skin, leaving him looking human and very confused.
Still confused but knowing they had a job to do, Paradox reversed her grip on her sword and hit him in the head with the flat side. Onix grunted and crumpled to the ground, unconscious.
"Is… that it?" Zephyr asked uncertainly, and Michelle nodded.
"Yeah, that's it. Everyone can calm down now. That means you, Animal."
Animal growled at her, but there was no blood spilt, so she reverted back to her human form.
"Where's Rogue?" Selene asked, still gripping her sword.
"Over here. Selene, put it away."
Selene frowned, looking at her beautiful, shining sword. She hated dismissing her weapons, but couldn't think up a good enough excuse to keep it, so she reluctantly let it go, and it dissolved into specks of white light.
The Dark Roses all gathered around the unconscious Mitchell, and waited for Rogue to give them their orders.
Rogue stared at the man for a long time, hatred and anger burning in her grey eyes. Her hands clenched into fists, but she took a deep, calming breath and let it out.
"Alright, Kar, Ivy, you get to carry Onix, I'll carry Mitchell. Jamie, get us a bubble."
"Yes, ma'am."
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They put Mitchell in the basement, tying him to a chair and handcuffing his hands behind his back. Kar had searched him thoroughly to make sure he didn't have anything dangerous on him. Jamie gave him a sedative that would keep him out for the rest of the day, so they could focus on Onix, who they put in Rogue's bedroom.
"Ya know, he's kinda handsome," Selene said thoughtfully, looking at the sleeping mutant's face.
"Selene, twenty minutes ago he was trying to kill you," Kar said patiently.
"So?"
Onix groaned in his sleep and everyone tensed. "Oh, did someone get the number of that truck that ran over me?" he grumbled under his breath, running his hand over his face. Then he blinked and sat up, eyeing the Dark Roses warily. "Okay, who the fuck are you guys?"
"We are the people you tried to kill twenty minutes ago," Ivy said flatly, and Onix blinked again.
"Excuse me? I-oh shit."
"I guess he remembers."
"Ivy, cool it," Rogue ordered. "Look, we don't want to hurt you, but you gotta promise not to attack us."
"Sure, I mean, why not? You seem okay. Just, where the hell am I?"
"At our house, and that's all you need to know for now. You got a name?"
"Alistor Ross."
"Great. Can you tell us what you remember from before you fought us?"
"Um… not much. Just… darkness, and cold. I heard… screams occasionally, and shouting. I remember… lots of white coats, so doctors or scientists probably. They… gave me injections, and… things got hazy, but I was so angry I just wanted to trash things."
"Do you remember seeing any other mutants?"
"Um… this one girl, a redhead, I saw her a lot. They were always taking her past my cell, and she was always covered in bruises and blood, something about her being 'too strong'."
Jean, Rogue thought, but pushed the thought aside, because it wasn't important just now. "How long were you there?" she asked, still trying to keep her tone gentle.
"A few weeks, I think. I don't know. I never saw daylight, so time was sort of a blur."
"Why didn't you ever see daylight?"
"Well, my cell didn't have any windows. I think it was underground, but I'm not sure."
"Makes sense," Michelle murmured. "They wouldn't want just anyone to be able to walk into their base."
"Anything else?" Rogue asked, and Alistor shook his head.
"No, things are kinda hazy, I think it was the drugs they gave us."
"We didn't find any drugs in the mutants' bloodstreams."
"Well, you wouldn't, because it didn't last very long. I overhead some of the doctors talking, something about how the drug broke down after about half an hour, but the effects lasted for about two hours."
"I hate to admit it, but that's really clever," Selene said, sighing.
"Alright, can you guys answer some of my questions now?" Alistor asked, and Rogue smiled.
"We'll try."
"What the hell happened to me?"
"You were captured by a secret government agency and forced to go crazy in an effort to get all mutants arrested and executed."
Alistor blinked as that sank in. "Shit."
"Yep."
"And you guys are…?"
"Trying to stop them."
"And you fought me?"
"Yes."
"How'd you win?"
"Michelle, our empath, forced you to feel calm, and then Selene knocked you unconscious."
"Uh huh."
"So what do we do with him now?" Ivy asked, ignoring the fact that Alistor was in the room.
Rogue frowned thoughtfully, turning the idea over in her mind. "Well, we are one short since Gary died."
"What? Rogue, you want him to join us?"
"He's strong, good at both defence and offence, and he has some vague memories of the Agency. He could be useful. Besides, what if they try to recapture him? I don't want to have to fight him again."
"Rogue, look, I'm sorry, but we don't know a thing about him!"
"He's not evil," Michelle said firmly. "All I can sense from him is the lasting effects of my peace-bomb and a sort of calm seriousness. He wants to stop the Agency from doing to others what they did to him."
"Still-"
"Ivy, this is my decision!" Rogue snapped, and Ivy glared at her, but didn't say anything else. Rogue nodded and turned back to Alistor.
"So, you wanna fight with us or not?"
"Uh… yeah, I think so, but could I get some introductions first?"
"Sure." Rogue smiled and quickly introduced the Dark Roses, saying name, powers, and anything else Alistor would need to know, like to not piss off Ivy.
"Alright, I'm in," Alistor said. "Let me grab some things from my home, though, if it's still there. I swear, if they trashed Stien, I'll fucking kill them."
"What's Stien?" Kar asked, frowning.
"My sword."
"Cool."
"Thank you."
"Alright, Selene, grab the SUV and drive him, and you might want to stop off at the club and tell Cathryn about him. Oh, and could you ask her to get a new com-watch for him, please?"
"Sure thing."
"Who's Cathryn?" Alistor asked, standing up.
"Our financier. She gives us money and stuff we need and we promise to destroy the Agency."
"Hm. Sounds fair."
"We think so."
Rogue waited until Selene and Alistor had left before dismissing everyone except Ivy. Kar grinned as he went, knowing what was about to happen. Rogue fixed Ivy with an icy stare, but the feral mutant remained unfazed.
"It's a mistake," she insisted quietly.
"Maybe, but it's my mistake to make. I do not want you questioning my orders like that. If you have any objections to my decisions, tell me in a calm and orderly manner and give me good, logical reasons. Michelle has verified that he wants to fight with us, he will be a valuable member of this team, and that is all we need to know. If he turns out to be unsuited for this team, I will dump him, but until then I want you to treat him with the same respect and courtesy you do everyone else, do I make myself clear?"
Ivy glared but nodded and muttered a, "Yes, ma'am."
"Good. Now, get down to the basement and guard Mitchell, I want to know as soon as he starts to show signs of waking up."
"Why don't you just do it yourself?"
"Because I have other things I need to do and because I told you to do it!"
Ivy glared at Rogue's back as the auburn-haired mutant stalked into the bathroom. Rogue looked at her reflection in the mirror, noting almost absently the burning anger in her eyes.
He was downstairs, right at this very moment, and he was unconscious, defenceless. She could do anything she wanted to him. She could hit him, cut him, burn him, whip him, break him, touch him. She could do anything. And she wanted to. Oh, yes, she really wanted to. The memory of what he did to her, of what he made her do, made rage and hatred and shame well up inside her. She was usually pretty good at controlling her emotions, but she did have her limits, and he was one of them. The urge to hurt him, punish him, was so strong she wasn't sure she could resist it.
Someone knocked on the door and she jumped like she'd been shot. Swallowing her pulse, she opened it and frowned at Kar.
"What is it?" she asked, not caring that she sounded very rude.
"Michelle thought you might want to talk to me."
"I don't." She started to close the door again, but Kar shoved his foot in the gap and stopped her.
"Rogue, please, just talk to me."
"Fuck off, Kar."
"Dammit, Rogue, we can't afford for you to lose your head over this! I don't know what that bastard did to you, but it must have been bad, and I'm sorry, but now is not the time for vengeance. We need cool heads and clear thinking to interrogate him. If you don't think you can manage that, say so and we'll let Ivy handle it."
"You-!"
"Rogue! This is important! Do not make me fry your ass!"
Rogue blinked as Kar's eyes flashed purple, and realised that he was very, very serious. He knew she was losing control and he knew that he couldn't allow her to see Mitchell in that condition, and to do that he was willing to hurt her. That knowledge dampened enough of Rogue's anger to allow her to think rationally.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I can… I can do this. But I want you to be there as well. If I start to lose it, stop me." That statement, the one that said she knew she might be too weak to do this simple task, burned. She hated that she couldn't be the cool and rational leader she had been for so long. She hated that she might need to be controlled by others. She hated everything about this situation. And the man responsible for it all was down in the basement, unconscious and defenceless.