Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters; they are all Marvel's property.
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Prisoners of the Heart
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A/N: I hadn't planned on changing anything about the end of season three, but this kind of just fell in place and worked out a little better than what I had planned earlier. As I said before, this is going to be a short story and only one more chapter after this, but it will be a chock-full Romy chapter with some interesting insights hopefully. Thanks again to all you reviewers; please hang in there. And anyone new, please feel free to send a review in. Let me know how things are playing out.
Paksennarion: Good question. In the two-part episode at the end of season three, Rogue was used by Mesmero to absorb so many mutants' powers. I suppose that meant she absorbed them long enough to hold onto the powers and keep them at her disposal until all of it was leeched out of her by Apocalypse. This probably had something to do with Mesmero's control over her and her powers as well, accessing more of her potential.
Unforgivable Horror: I agree. The way it was changed wasn't as fun as the original waswith the kiss.
Enjoy...
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Pursuit
Trekking on foot would've taken too many hours for Remy to reach the Xavier Institute, but with the right amount of skill, and at the expense of someone else's carelessness, he hitched a ride and made it to the mansion grounds in just under two hours, having walked down the mountain and past the ski lodge on foot. He ditched the wired car in some brush alongside the main road leading to the property's main entrance gates. Concealed in the brush as well, Remy scanned the entrance and the security cam swerving from its point on a pillar that framed the front gates. The electronic surveillance swept the area in front of the gates, probably with heat sensors or some other equipment that could detect a loitering presence when the visual was obscured by night. Cloaked in the shadows and the brush, Remy looked overhead and spotted the moon as it hid behind a meandering cloud. Shafts of moonlight disappeared from in front of the entrance gates as Remy watched, but he wasn't planning on using the front door anyways. He knew better.
Several security cams were stationed alongside the perimeter of the property, linked to the stone wall that wrapped around the front of the mansion grounds within the brush, while the other half was composed of cliffs. Remy stayed light on his feet with one hand tucked into his pocket, his fingertips tracing the edges of his deck. The surveillance would be easy to avoid, thanks to years of honing his stealth as a thief back home in Louisiana, long before he'd even considered the world of mutants, X-men, and Magneto. Just in case any unwanted artillery popped up before he could make it inside, Remy was ready to toss a few kinetically-charged playing cards, even if it did make his presence known and thereby unwelcome. However, evasiveness was key, and being discreet and calculative with his movements could earn him a safe passage into the mansion without ever having to toss a card.
Before he could even stretch his limbs and prepare for a little fun, Remy heard the air shift far above his head, above the reaches of the trees, and to his slight dismay, he realized that gaining entry into the X-men's stronghold would be easier than first thought; though much less entertaining or challenging.
Still blending in with the shadows and brush, Remy dipped lower as four metal spheres floated down to the road, landing with a lofty silence and splitting open immediately. Magneto climbed out of the first one, while the other three Acolytes stepped out of their respective transport orbs.
The grinding of metal ruined the midnight symphony of cicadas, as Magneto brought the gates crashing down inside the property. The security cam swiveled and focused directly on him. No alarms sounded, but the massive landscape of the front lawn shifted into less friendly scenery, as blasters, cannons, and shooters rose from the subterranean level, all of them aimed at Magneto and the approaching Acolytes who trailed him so boldly.
The X-men's defenses were no match for Magneto, let alone his accompanying underlings, though they didn't lift a finger of assistance. A mere glance from the caped mutant rendered each device incapacitated; a single wave of the hand ripped the weapons from their circuited bases, sending them into the sky, where they crashed down elsewhere, ruining unseen topiaries.
The fountain in front of the mansion shifted, its tall sculptured centerpiece rising above the stone base in the middle of the water and revealing an energy blasting canon. One bolt escaped the weapon, hitting the grass to Magneto's right, and then it short-circuited, the statue tipping over and splashing into the water. For all Magneto's ease, Remy wondered why the man did not make more house calls to their rivals' home. Their defenses were utterly useless against his powers, and Magneto hadn't even started to warm up. If their home was so vulnerable, why did he not bring battles straight to their front lawn?
Finally, when it seemed like none of the X-men were home, Wolverine leapt off a balcony and landed between Magneto and the entrance to the foyer, adamantium bared. His claws gleamed in the moonlight, their lethalness taking on an ethereal glow as they extended from his knuckles. Remy expected Magneto to thrust the feral mutant's limbs outwards and suspend him in the air.
He stopped a few steps from the stairs leading into the mansion. One flick of the wrist could control the metal staged beneath Wolverine's flesh, grafted to his skeleton and his bone claws. Magneto could dominate the other mutant, toy with him like a puppet. But he only sized up his opponent with a single look, and glanced back over his shoulder at Sabretooth, saying something that Remy couldn't hear. As he rejoined the ranks of Magneto's team, stepping up in between Colossus and Pyro, he saw Sabretooth hunch his shoulders and growl, but another scolding from Magneto sedated him to silent glares that burned into his longtime rival and fellow subject of the Weapon X project years ago.
"Where is she?" Magneto demanded, calm but impatient. His hands folded over the armor protecting his chest.
"There's a lot of "she"s 'round here, bub. How 'bout naming' one of 'em?" Wolverine sneered, his claws dancing in the air, anxious to pierce armor or flesh. The claws stopped and spread, bringing Wolverine's arms up and his legs out, as Magneto finally took control of the adamantium with little more effort than it took to blink. Snarling, Wolverine fought the invisible restraints on his appendages, to no avail.
"Where is Xavier?"
"That's enough!" Cyclops appeared behind the restrained Wolverine, as the front doors opened to reveal numerous other X-men beside and behind the visor-wearing mutant. Remy drew his Bo staff out to look threatening, to show the X-men that he wasn't here to share his concerns about their missing link. Still, he thought of the lifeless, corrupted gaze of the untouchable southerner, as Mesmero had entered her brain's control room and took up the reins.
"Where's Rogue?" The floating redhead next to Cyclops demanded. Remy could only remember a select few of the X-men's codenames. They'd only done battle once, and it had been a short scuffle. The Sentinel had made sure of that.
"Don't be coy with me, Miss Grey," Magneto threatened. "Where are you, Charles?"
"Right here, Magneto." Professor X wheeled beneath the redhead and next to Cyclops, his gaze intent on his perpetual rival and friend, fingers forming a steeple beneath his chin. In an inquisitive, irritable voice, he asked, "What is the meaning of this? You have no right to come and disturb my family in the wee hours of the night. Explain yourself, Magneto."
"The girl is under Mesmero's control, Charles! She absorbed our powers and he wiped it from our memories with his powers."
"Rogue…What proof have you?" Professor X challenged, though from the look in his eyes, he seemed to have already suspected something.
Remy looked at the X-men and took in some of their disheveled appearances, and he began to wonder how quickly Rogue could've traveled in one of those orbs, if she'd been able to hit the X-men up in the middle of the night. Two hours had passed since he'd seen her, and with Magneto's powers at her disposal, she could've traveled all over Bayville in the orb, hidden in the nighttime sky.
"My surveillance tapes recorded the whole thing." He failed to mention the fact that Remy was the lone survivor of the memory-wipe.
"Logan, track Rogue as best you can. I'll use Cerebro to locate the most recent signature of her powers, or Mesmero's. I will inform you where to look, but I need you in town. I have a feeling the two of them will be leaving the country as soon as possible."
"You two," Magneto turned and motioned at Sabretooth and Gambit. "Go with him."
"No," Sabretooth growled.
"I can handle it alone, Chuck."
"No, Logan." The Professor gave a brief look at Magneto. "The stakes are too high."
"We still need to research, Charles. We must find the location of Apocalypse's tomb."
Remy stepped back and allowed the two mentors to engage in their plan of action. Following Wolverine and Sabretooth into the garage, he found them arguing over which motorcycle to take, their egos already clashing and their fangs already bared. Remy sighed and shoved them both away with his Bo staff, taking a seat on the motorcycle in question.
Two hands grabbed onto his trench coat and threw him off the bike. Landing on his back and catching his Bo staff, he gave a sheepish smile at the two other men.
"Well, this ought t' be interestin'."
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The trio made it onto the highway in little time, Remy hanging back in case either Wolverine or Sabretooth tried to run the other off the road. The Professor's voice reached their minds not long after they pulled out onto the highway.
Your mental blocks are in place, and Cerebro has detected the last signature of Rogue's powers somewhere near the airport. The rest of us will be heading to Apocalypse's tomb in Egypt. Good luck to you all.
Wolverine sped up on his bike, passing by Sabretooth and leading the three of them further along the highway until they reached the exit leading to the airport. He cut a right, screeching westbound and circling down the ramp. The small airport was on the outskirts of Bayville, its control tower reaching into the darkening sky. With the moon hidden behind gray clouds, they had to rely on lamplight from the sides of the road to guide them into the parking lot of the property. They almost missed the limousine parked off to the side, its exterior black as shadows, but the two senses-enhanced mutants swerved into the far reaches of the dark, outside the orange luminescence lining the outside of the parking lot. Remy cut left and followed, his trench coat kicking up and flapping in the wind, as Wolverine and Sabretooth pulled to a stop ahead of him, sidling off their bikes and rounding the limo from opposite sides. As Remy halted and killed the ignition of his bike, the two other men ripped off doors from the limo and ducked inside the front of the elongated vehicle.
After countless sniffs and flares of nostrils, Wolverine declared, "Rogue!"
"Mesmero!" Sabertooth roared from across the console.
"There's a third scent I can't detect."
"They must've left by boat," Sabretooth commented, staring at the body of water not far from the airport parking lot.
Remy chuckled and corrected him. "Or plane." He nodded in the direction of an aircraft touching down on the runway, and then he pointed at the control tower not far from the parking lot. The other two mutants understood, and the three of them left the limo and their bikes behind, reaching the airport's control tower in little over two minutes.
When they entered the main control room, they found a number of airport officials and workers unconscious on the floor.
"We're too late," Sabretooth admitted, glancing around the tiny room. Remy stepped up to one of the control panels and investigated the different devices.
"I'd bet dat's dem," he said, indicating a blinking orange dot on the radar. "Looks like we'll be needin' a plane, boys."
Ten minutes later, they were soaring through the sky thanks to Wolverine's expertise, much learned from manning the X-jet and Blackbird countless times. Sabretooth refused to assist him in the piloting of the aircraft, so Remy had to step in and listen to all that the other mutant said. He ignored the sulking Sabretooth behind him, the large mutant already getting agitated with the lack of action.
"Where do y' t'ink they're headed?"
Wolverine glanced at his co-pilot and then at the radar. "Hard to say. But I hope you packed a change of underwear, bub. I've got a feelin' this is gonna be a long ride."
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Nearly twelve hours later, disregarding the time changes, Wolverine and Remy lowered the jet onto a snowy peak in Tibet, next to a similar plane already stationary. Wolverine and Sabretooth were out of the plane quickly, jumping to the snowy ground and sniffing the air. The advent of a blizzard was at hand.
Remy gave an irritable sigh, having forgotten to bring any long underwear. To avoid the biting cold, he tied his trench coat tightly, as his battle almost fourteen hours ago with Mystique had left his uniform slightly tattered. He dropped down to the snow-covered peak, and found Wolverine and Sabretooth inspecting three trails of footprints like a couple of bloodhounds.
"Rogue and Mesmero," Sabretooth declared.
"Can't place the third one. Gotta be Mystique." Wolverine added, sniffing one of the tracks.
Remy rolled his eyes and moved in between the two mutants, and said, "Why don't we just follow the footprints?"
They glared at him but complied, and the trio began their trek through the Himalayas. Not far had they gone before the tiny figures of Rogue, Mesmero, and Mystique came into view farther up ahead on the trial. The cloaked figure, Mesmero, turned and stared down at them, while Rogue and Mystique continued on.
The psychic blast shrieked in Remy's skull, the surprise and intensity causing him to cry out and fall because of sudden numbness in his legs. He collapsed into the snow, withering alongside Sabretooth and Wolverine as Mesmero continued to pound away at their minds, attempting to force his way into their thoughts. When he couldn't control them, due to the mental blocks placed in their minds by Xavier, he inflicted enough psychic trauma to stun them for a few moments, and then he turned and continued up the mountain.
"The Professor's mental blocks probably just saved our lives," Wolverine mused aloud, steadying himself as he tried to stand.
"Lucky for you," Sabretooth replied curtly. "Mesmero told me to push you off the mountain. Problem is, I'm still tempted to."
"Do me a favor," Remy snapped, climbing to his feet and stepping between the glowering mutants. "Why don' y' both jump off the mountain!"
They continued their pursuit, fending off the increasing flurries of snow and trying to clear away the fog bred inside their heads from Mesmero's assault. Wolverine took out the comm.-link he'd pocket earlier from his motorcycle, and informed whoever was on the other side of the connection that they were currently tracking Mesmero and Rogue in the Himalayas, and Mystique was with them. A deep voice responded back, but Remy was too focused on other things; namely, Rogue, to process the voice. Mesmero's control would leave her so fragile, and Remy had to fight the urge to break into a sprint and rush the group from behind. Recklessness wasn't in his repertoire, but the thought of someone so deceived as Rogue being manipulated for the umpteenth time brought about a silent rage inside him. The feeling was awkward and disconcerting, but ever since their first meeting, when he'd almost blown her up, he'd been appraising the smitten girl inside his head, sometimes inquiring of Magneto to learn more about her. There seemed to be a connection between them, the two southerners, as if they were cut from the same block. He briefly thought of Jean-Luc and the Thieves' Guild, setting it as a backdrop in comparison to Rogue's history with Mystique.
Seemed they had something in common after all.
When they reached the summit ten minutes later, Remy placed his hands on the stone block denying them access to the cavern. Wolverine and Sabretooth stepped back to allow him room to work his mojo, as he sent waves of kinetic energy seeping through the rocky barrier. He jumped back to avoid any scattering of debris in their direction, and he gave a smug smile as the block exploded with a resounding bang, showering the inside of the cavern with bits and pieces of rocks.
Remy caught a brief glimpse of Rogue disappearing into a darkened archway, her movements akin to that of someone in a trance. Mesmero turned to face them, drawing his scepter from beneath his cloak. Mystique was nowhere to be seen.
"You cannot fight destiny!" the tattooed mutant bellowed, wielding his weapon with skill, twirling it with deadly control.
Sabretooth struck first, with a downwards arc of his claws, intent on pummeling the smaller man. One end of the scepter jabbed him in the abdomen, and a blast of energy stunned the feral mutant, sending him sprawling backwards. Mesmero evaded Wolverine's swipes, landing a crushing blow with his weapon and dropping the other mutant without even taking a hit. Remy stepped up while withdrawing his Bo staff, spinning it in his fingers with more dexterity than Mesmero had shown. They clashed staves, but with the added energy and mass, Mesmero's sliced right through Remy's staff, cutting off a third of the weapon. Dumbfounded, Remy frowned at his opponent, and then reacted too late, as the end of the scepter dug into his stomach, the energy scorching his trench coat and tearing through the belt he'd used to tie it together. The coat flapped open as the energy singed his exposed flesh from beneath the five tears in his uniform, and the force of the blow sent him off his feet, the air rushing out of his lungs as he hit the hard floor and doubled over.
The only one standing, Mesmero taunted them with a twisted grin, choosing a target to aim his scepter at. The energy blast connected with Sabretooth and drove him back to the ground. He then stalked towards Wolverine, but Remy was on his feet and rushing in between them. Sliding off his trench coat, he leapt off the ground and flipped in the air, trying to wrap the coat around Mesmero to distract him. In mid air, he slid out his deck of cards and slapped the floor with his feet, landing behind Mesmero and wrapping his trench coat around his adversary.
With unexpected speed, Mesmero enabled his weapon to pierce through the coat, just as Wolverine was about to lunge at him. He rammed one end of the staff into his temple and the other end into Remy's chest. The simultaneous blows whipped Wolverine off his feet and sent him to the ground, where he cracked his head against the stone flooring. The second discharge of energy Mesmero inflicted on Remy was stronger than the first, a more potent blast that bruised his chest, tore apart the front of his shirt, and scalded his flesh. Remy grunted and his knees buckled, but he managed to bring up his ruined Bo staff and still give it good use, the unmarred end of it colliding with Mesmero's chin as he fell into a backwards roll. The mutant controller staggered backwards, surprised and jarred, while Remy hobbled onto his knees. His chest heaved and his breaths were rapid, but amidst the smell of scorched flesh searing his nostrils, he clutched his deck and held his ground.
"Y' like ta play games, don' y', Mesmero?" He charged the whole deck and dispersed it wildly in the direction of his opponent. "Dis one's called fifty-two card pick-up." He whispered vehemently, and collapsed onto his back, as the first card struck the ground and detonated. The chain reaction from the first blast engulfed most of the remaining cards, triggering them before they even touched surface. The result was a thunderous burst of kinetic energy with the force of an outpouring battering ram, casting Mesmero backwards as if he weighed next to nothing, sending him into a wall where he bumped the back of his head and crumpled to the floor, unconscious and out of control.
Remy was closest to the archway. Wolverine was recovering from both the blow to his head and the blow of his head to the floor. Sabertooth could barely stand after the double-dose of energy overload. Mesmero's first attack against Remy had lacked the high energy potency as his second one, but the two attacks together did not prevent him from crawling towards the archway that Rogue had disappeared into. He could only draw short breaths due to the pain that flared as his chest expanded, but he soon realized the burn marks were not as horrible as they felt. He dropped onto his chest, the cold stone floor cooling the tenderness of his exposed skin, soothing his burns. Pushing up, he continued to crawl, struggling but determined; he didn't look twice as he spotted a petrified-----both literally and figuratively----Mystique with her hand pressed onto a pedestal, from the corner of his eye.
The stairs leading down into a cavernous hideout were a greater obstacle, and one slip of his hand brought Remy crashing down the steps, bracing his ribs against the sharp edges and cracking a knee and an elbow as well. He rolled to a stop halfway along a stone pathway, lying before a green glow from the other end. Remy rolled off his side, coughing, and spotted Rogue standing over some sort of foreign sarcophagus. She was only a few yards away from him, glancing around at her surroundings with dazed anxiety and confusion. Her eyes settled on Remy as he neared her feet, and her dark eyes widened. She blinked, her mouth opened-----
-----and a shriveled, much-aged hand shot out of the sarcophagus and snatched Rogue's bare hand.
Her screams were the darkest music Remy had ever heard; they punctured his soul and forced him to his feet with a roar of pain mixed with indignation. He stumbled, almost face-planted into the floor, but he held his balance. Witnessing what transpired between the mostly concealed body in the sarcophagus and a struggling Rogue left Remy with a hollow coldness swimming through his bones like an icy deluge of fear. Ghost-like doppelgangers of absorbed psyches passed from Rogue's body into the sarcophagus, as the poltergeist-esque disturbance put a strain on her torn face.
When the screams failed and Rogue moaned in utter defeat, the hand released her and she swayed, losing her balance as consciousness seeped out of her body. She toppled backwards into a weakened Remy, knocking him off his feet and sending them both crumbling to the floor. Rogue's cheek landed on the bare part of Remy's chest; the sudden shock that coursed through his veins was mercifully unfelt, as his whole world faded to black.
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A/N: Hope you enjoyed the battle scene; it was fun for me to write. Any ideas where this is going? Look for somethingspecialin the finalchapter, as Rogue and Remy finally come to terms in a peculiar way.
-fathoms-
