Chapter Sixteen
Emotions flittered across her senses like butterflies, light and gentle but annoying and distracting. Happiness from Envee, mixed with a vague sense of longing; frustration and anger from Ivy; boredom and restlessness from Selene; calm and peacefulness from Alistor. It all washed over her, through her, in a gentle wave, abusing and caressing her mind.
Michelle sighed and tried to raise her shields, tried to block out the emotions from her friends, but the cold nothingness from Rogue haunted her mind, made her unable to focus, and thus left her open to everything. That was why she got such a strong hit off the mutant.
Rage and hatred crashed into her mind, swallowing her up whole in a torrent of fierce passion. It took away her breath and she stared unseeing at the wall, a haze of blind fury settling over her eyes. Her hands clenched into fists, the need to destroy, to kill, coursing through her body like wildfire.
"Get out… of my… head," she muttered breathlessly, slamming her shields into place. The emotions faded, her leaving her shaking but herself, and she took a moment to breathe deeply for a moment before sending out a psychic pulse, grabbing her jacket and walking downstairs.
"What do we got?" Rogue asked, brushing her hair out of her eyes.
"Mutant, strong, male, no name, very advanced powers."
"How advanced?"
"He can duplicate any power, as long as he has been hit by it."
Silence fell as they all contemplated this for a moment before Kar asked, "So if we all just stand there and not hit him with our powers, we're safe?"
"Doubtful," Jamie said quietly, rubbing her hands together and summoning a bubble of no-time. "It is highly probable that the Agency would have given him a wide range of powers or he would be useless to them. We should expect the worst."
"Which could mean anything from psychokenetic to explosive," Rogue muttered, checking the clip in her gun. "Try to keep your power-usage to a minimum, rely on your fighting skills. Onix, I want you to be the primary attacker, after me. Use that sword of yours."
Alistor nodded and tightened his grip on his sword. Stien was a beautiful piece of weaponry, with a deep red handle and a solid black blade. It was razor sharp and glinted darkly in the sunlight.
"Where are we going, Michelle?"
Michelle frowned and absently rubbed her temples, sifting through the knowledge she had gained from the connection. "The monastery, I think," she said after a minute.
"Great, that's all we need-for some nun to get fried. Alright, I want two of you on protection duty, who's volunteering?"
Surprisingly, it was Ivy who first volunteered, and Kar agreed to help her. Rogue just nodded and began walking, her mind already running battle strategies and plotting tactics.
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Paradox snapped her fingers and a small throwing knife appeared in her raised hand. She threw it quickly, wanting to get the mutant's attention off Rogue, who was currently kneeling on the ground gasping as her blood started to boil, her lungs starting to burn. The knife buried itself in the mutant's side and he jerked, turning around to glare at her.
Rogue sucked air back into her lungs, gasping as her body heat slowly started to cool. She forced herself to breathe evenly and looked up to see Zephyr curse and dive sideways to avoid a bolt of energy. It hit the wall behind her and dissolved the stones. Rogue merely raised an eyebrow, while Zephyr stared at the hole for a moment and mentally said a prayer of thanks that she had fast reflexes. She really didn't want to get dissolved, if she could avoid it.
Onix ran at the mutant's back, his sword raised high, but slammed into an unseen wall and crashed to the ground. He groaned and stumbled to his feet, only to be pushed out of the way by Michelle as the mutant swung at him with a fist suddenly made out of concrete.
"This guy's unbeatable!" Zephyr shouted, throwing a ball of compressed air at the mutant, only to have him stagger back a few feet before making a wild gesture with his arm. Blood flew in thick droplets, arcing through the air, and Zephyr gave a short scream as a deep gash appeared across her left cheekbone, blood dribbling down her face.
Rogue grit her teeth, her mind racing. She could draw her gun, try to shoot him, but he'd exhibited such a wide range of powers, she didn't want to risk him doing something to her favourite weapon. It was petty and she knew it, but she'd had her gun since the night she left the X-Men. It was the one constant in her chaotic life, and the chance that something could happen to it…
She sighed and pulled the knife out of her boot instead. She had plenty of knives and could easily get more; the loss of one wouldn't matter. Her eyes met Michelle's and the blonde nodded, moving to stand next to the stone fountain, ready to use it for cover. She took a deep breath and reached out to the mutant's mind.
She frowned, coming up against a strong resistance. It was like a large wall made of thick, solid steel. She felt along it, searching for a weak spot, but found none. She bit her lip and threw a psychic blast at the wall, feeling it weaken just a little.
The mutant jumped and whirled around to face her. He clenched his fist and flames licked at his skin, forming a solid glove of fire. Michelle didn't see it, too focused on his mind, and only Onix's shout made her dive behind the fountain in time to avoid a ball of fire.
Rogue pounced on his back, thrusting her knife into his body, finding and shredding his heart. He screamed, but it was cut off quickly as he coughed, blood splattering against his lips and chin. He fell to his knees, with Rogue still clinging to his back, and she waited a moment to be sure he was dead before climbing off him and pulling out her bloody knife.
"Is everyone alright?" she asked, cleaning her knife on the mutant's shirt. She looked around and found that Jamie was healing Envee's face. That had been the worse injury sustained, so Rogue concluded that everyone was indeed alright.
"Well, it looks like you're still as good as ever," a dark, tempting voice said. Rogue gasped and spun around to face the man.
It was a trick. It had to be a trick. This was some horrible, horrible lie sent to weaken her. It couldn't be real. He was dead. He was dead!
He smiled, and it was the same wicked smile from her memories. No one could smile like him, it was an utterly unique smile. His eyes glinted with amusement, and one eyebrow was raised slightly. He looked gorgeous, a vision of sweet temptation, like a guilty pleasure you knew you'd regret later.
"What's the matter, cher? Aren't you going to say hello?"
Rogue choked down a sob, a feeble smile curling her lips, and she stumbled forward to collapse against his body, nearly crying out with joy when he wrapped his arms around her.
Remy smiled as he held her close and vowed to never let her go again.