Disclaimer: I Do Not Own The X-Men Or Anything Related To The X-Men. I Also Do Not Own Batman Or Superman.
Thank you for taking a look at the newest chapter, everyone. I appreciate you taking time out to read this story. And A big thank you to Jehilew for her two sweet reviews to the story.
"You want us to like, do what now?" Kitty asked as the X-men huddled in one of the large drawing rooms nestled deep within the duke's mansion.
The plan had been explained in great detail, thanks only to Kurt, but there were still quite a few pairs of confused eyes in the room. Rogue had simply sat beside him on the couch and tried to keep herself out of the limelight. This meant a lot to Kurt and it would help bring peace to Lenox, so it was a good idea. Well, at least it could be a good idea, Rogue figured as she watched him launch into another retelling of the idea, if he could convince the X-men to compete on the team. So far, she hadn't had that much enthusiasm for the idea and it appeared that most of the X-men were unsure as well.
"The point is to see us win the events?" Scott asked, and mentally judged whether or not they could avoid looking foolish playing games they had never tried before. "Haven't the Lenox people been practicing for these events for years?"
"Probably," Rogue added with a soft sigh as she stared at the crowd surrounding her, "All they are is the Olympics for superheroes, but they are a pretty big deal to the people of Lenox."
"Like Batman and Superman." Axel, feeling proud that he had remembered his newest bit of Earth trivia, smiled warmly at Rogue and stood a little taller in the corner. Eleanor, standing beside him, giggled under her breath at his antics and patted his arm.
"Right," Rogue added as the couple seemed to drift into their own moment, "They have flying stuff, hand-to-hand combat, targets, something called psychic focus, and a ton of stuff I have never heard of."
Axel broke his moment with Eleanor as Rogue struggled to recall his lessons on Lenox culture. The two guards took their spots on either side of Rogue and Kurt's couch and tried their hardest to explain what some of the events entailed.
It was no surprise that the flying event was pretty straightforward with three different challenges. The first contest focused on mere speed and required the user to navigate a course of twists, turns, and various obstacles at their fastest rate. Second level was harder and included obstacles that attacked the competitor as they tried to fly through the course. The highest scorers of the first two levels were then invited to compete in the last round that was an open course filled with inanimate obstacles and opponents who could attack you at any moment.
Gambit, who had been strangely quiet through most of the speech, perked up as Eleanor began to explain the rules of targets. The idea of throwing charged cards at various objects rushing at him in an ever changing environment was right up his alley, and he was more than happy to volunteer. Being the first of the group to actually sign up for something set him apart from the others, and earned him a pair of large smiles from Kurt and Axel.
A few of the events were more similar to the Earth style Olympics and gained a little more attention from the other X-men. Kurt was happy to sign up for gymnastics and even Logan volunteered to possibly sign up for one of the combat sports. No one in the room could really tell if he was trying to help Rogue out by volunteering, or was just looking to possibly get in a good fight.
"What are the psychic focus activities?" Professor Xavier asked calmly as the other X-men began to murmur about which event would be interesting to try or how stupid the whole idea really was.
"The two player version," Eleanor took the question and quickly drew a sketch on a spare piece of paper on the coffee table, "Involves one player using their energy to keep a heavy weight in the air, while their teammate tries to defend them from attacks and tries to knock the other team's weight to the ground. The arena changes for each group and you can use whatever resources are available to you in that location."
"You should have seen last years!" Axel piped up a little too excitedly, "They used a jungle wine to wrap the guy up and toss him to the ground, right in front of this hungry panther."
A small, silent shiver spread through some of the X-men as they realized how hard some of these players took the games. The general, unspoken idea was that maybe these would be just like intense Danger Room sessions, but they were starting to shape into something different. They were definitely a little more violent than they had expected.
"What about the other version?" Rogue asked and wondered if Jean and the Professor were up for this kind of challenge.
"The other version is a team event, that is kind of like capture the flag. You keep your heavy weight guarded by the group's strongest telekinetic player and the others have to work together to capture the other team's weight. The weight can touch the ground, but the game isn't over until you can secure both weights into your team's slots."
Eleanor's explanation was basic and used only simple words, but it still left her audience in a silent stupor. She was starting to question whether or not they had understood what she said, but slowly a few of the mutants began to nod their heads and/or blink again. Maybe it was the fact she had grown up with these games, but they really didn't seem that hard to her. The Earthlings sitting in front of her all had powers and had shown great courage in the battle with Sunil's guards. What could they be afraid of?
"I say," Jean spoke up and faced the crowd with a look she usually reserved for her game days at Bayville High, "That we should do this."
Hours later, as Rogue found herself sitting in front of the game's main judge panel, she tried to remember how she had gotten into this mess in the first place. The last thing she remembered was Jean somehow managing to convince everyone to join the party and a flurry of signatures on the team sign-up sheet. They didn't have a person in every event, but they had covered a nice, broad section of the activities and were bound to be noticed by the other teams. Even Rogue had agreed to sign her name on the flying competition line, though her agreement had less to do with Jean's positive sportsmanship and more to do with the way Kurt had looked at her with such hopeful eyes.
The committee had not been sold on her late minute addition to the team roster, and they had been even more disturbed by the idea of creating an Earth team. Sure, they had told her as she stood alone in their strict eyesight, Earth was popular now because of her mysterious reappearance from there, but that was no reason to create a new team. She had countered easily enough by reminding them that the fighting Morphs and Lenoxians were the ones creating a break in the honor and respect of the dimension and that her team was meant to bring everyone together.
Overall, they had eventually relented and accepted her team as an acceptable addition. Rogue had no way of knowing, but she wondered as they reminded her she would receive no special treatment, whether or not her mom had been the one to change their mind. Queen Lydia was supposed to have no power over the way the games were run, minus big issues, but she had gone to talk to some of the judges before Rogue's team had even been put on paper. It felt wrong to start a team with a possible secret insider, but she trusted her mom enough to believe that the only help she would offer them was the chance to play.
Rogue sighed as she left the meeting and tried to settle her uneasy stomach by leaning against one of the cool marble pillars decorating the inside of the mansion. She closed her eyes for a moment and decided that she needed to take a little break and a lot of painkillers before jumping into any more conversations with anyone. The last thing she needed was another conflict or lengthy discussion to test her tired mood.
"Are you actually doing this?" Victoria's voice echoed off of the walls and rang through Rogue's ear like painful shock.
"What?" She forced her eyes to pop open, despite the urge to ignore her loud cousin, "Am I actually doing what?"
"Are you actually creating an Earth team?" She demanded in a strangely polite and yet angry manner.
"Yes, Tori," Rogue pulled herself away from the column and readied herself for what could be a bad confrontation.
"Victoria," She corrected her cousin sternly and shook her head in disappointment, "Do you realize what you are doing? How many years of tradition you are breaking?"
Rogue's brow started to slip downward as Victoria scolded her like a spoiled kid. What gave her the right to attack Rogue's decisions? Didn't she realize how much trouble was breaking out on the streets of Meridan? They had to do something and it didn't matter what the royal protocol said. She could be a lot more useful on the field than standing up on a stage and handing out trophies. If Victoria was so concerned about the state of things, Rogue wondered why she didn't try and join the X-men's efforts to help people get along.
"What I am doing," Rogue spoke very slowly and deliberately as she stared down her polished cousin, "Is trying to make everyone get along."
Victoria lost a little of her manners and propped her fists on her hips in frustration, "Did you ever stop to think that maybe, they just aren't meant to go together, princess?"
A sudden heat began to build up in Rogue's right hand. She recognized the feeling as the same kind of warmth that had coursed through her body during her fight with Sunil, but its temperature was much lower. Her chest heaved slowly and she felt the back of her brain begin to let go of its control and send more attention to her hand. There was something about Victoria that just put Rogue on edge, and she wasn't completely sure if she could, or would even want to, stop herself from attacking the girl.
"Victoria," Jude's voice broke up the tension and forced both girls to drop their angry positions. Rogue slumped her shoulders casually and watched as Victoria regained her perfect posture and calm exterior in seconds.
"Judah," She smiled softly at the boy and gently touched his hand, "I have been looking for you. Daddy wanted to discuss some of the opening ceremony details with you."
He nodded his head in agreement to her wishes and politely sent her off to her father's office with the promise that he would join her soon. Before she left the room, she gently squeezed Jude's hand and thanked him once again for working so close with her on the games. The whole scene made Rogue feel uncomfortable for multiple reasons, and her uneasiness didn't settle much as they were left alone again.
Jude offered her a playful smile and tilted his head as if he was examining a piece of art, "So, you and Victoria seem to be getting along."
"Humph," She scoffed and rolled her eyes at the idea of spending time with the girl. "There is something not right about her, Jude."
"Alex, she is just a stickler for the rules. Victoria is a nice person, she is just unsure how to handle all of the changes in Lenox."
"Changes?" She eyed the boy, feeling a little defensive, "You mean me, right? Me, and all of my new programs. She doesn't know what to do with this particular problem."
Jude frowned when Rogue motioned to herself and talked so negatively. Stubbornness was one of the girl's main qualities, but he got the impression that she was being even more determined to avoid giving Victoria a fair chance. They were completely different personalities, but Victoria wasn't a threat to Rogue. She was one of the few remaining members of the girl's family and yet she was being snubbed like she had some sort of unmentionable disease.
"First off," He held up a finger to the woman he used to be able to read so well, "You are not a problem. And secondly, if you just got to know Victoria, I am sure you two could find some common ground. I've been working side-by-side with her on these games for a long time and she really is a sweet girl."
The words hit Rogue harder than she had expected them to. There was something about the way he smiled when he said Victoria's name or the way he stood up for her despite Rogue's misgivings that really hurt her. Jude was the closest friend she had in Lenox and yet it was like he was completely ignoring her feelings about Victoria. Hadn't she been right when she thought there was something wrong with Griffin? Hadn't she earned his trust on these kinds of matters?
"Nice to know what team you are on." She snapped out the words a little too harshly, but it felt as if she had already lost a little control of her mind.
"This isn't a competition, Rogue." He remarked using her code name instead of the usual Alex. She could see a small shimmer in his eyes that almost looked like she had hurt him, but her pride was wounded deeply enough that she couldn't force out an apology. "If you'll excuse me, I can't keep the Duke and Victoria waiting."
As he walked down the hall without another word to Rogue, the girl felt her heart constrict uncomfortably. She bit her bottom lip hard and turned away from the hallway in case he looked back at her. Jude's dismissal of her feelings hurt, but the thought of Victoria continuing to touch and hug Jude forced her to outwardly flinch.
Internally, she couldn't understand why she felt this way. She had a pretty steady relationship with Remy and she really was happy, despite their lack of being able to touch freely. He had been there for her through so many difficult situations, that she had easily been able to relax and let him get closer to her than almost anyone else on Earth. But despite their closeness, there was something about losing Jude's confidence that hit her deeper than just losing a friend. It was like she had lost a part of herself.