Disclaimer: I Do Not Own The X-Men Or Anything Related To The X-Men. I also do not own the title song 'Catch Me If You Can' by Angela Via.

Thank you for reading the past chapter everyone. I appreciate you guys and gals taking time out of your busy lives to look at the newest chapter. Thanks to Mrs. Jehilew for her very lovely reviews. :).

Anywho here is the newest chapter:

With the rising of the sun, came the start of the games and a new round of mysterious whispers throughout the people about possible radicals hiding in their midst. The guards had worked throughout the night to scrub off the paint decorating the mansion, but even their hard work had not been able to completely erase the strangeness of the night. A good section of the painted threats was still glaring at the X-men as they left the mansion to report for the first event.

"Rogue's gonna go through that thing?" Kitty asked with trepidation as they neared the flying course for the first event.

The monster sized course took up the length of at least three football fields and was coated with various floating rings that seemed harmless enough, till a few were suddenly set ablaze by flying course workers. Unlike the rest of her team, Rogue never lost a step when the flames popped out and were soon joined by some rather sharp looking spikes on a few higher placed obstacles. Above their heads was a twisting tunnel maze that seemed to have a few choices that led to nothing but dead ends. Every few minutes, the long pieces suddenly awoke and flipped places making what once was the correct path wrong.

Remy shifted his weight to his other foot and tried to map out the pattern for the race in his head. He didn't doubt that Rogue could make it through the course. She was a talented flyer and had shown she was capable of completing dangerous missions if put to the test. Yes, she was a skilled competitor, but she was also a flawed one. He looked down at the girl who was staring at Victoria stretching only a few yards away instead of focusing on her challenge.

Victoria was pretty. Any male with a beating heart and a pair of eyes could tell that she was damn attractive. The spandex suit she wore, most likely for its aerodynamic purposes, only helped to illustrate the curves of her hips and the rest of her fit appearance. As far as he could tell, she was just like any other attractive and popular girl known to ruffle Rogue's feathers. It was no secret to most of the X-men that she had been jealous of Jean for her popularity and looks, whether Rogue wanted to admit it or not. Either way, she had put up with Jean for ages and made only a few protests and grumpy pouts, so it seemed feasible to the rugged man that Rogue could pull herself together and focus on the task at hand.

Then there is Jude. He thought with distaste as the blonde suddenly approached Victoria. Remy watched them smile at each other and briefly embrace. The gesture was so quick and supposedly unfeeling that it almost looked like the man had hugged a business acquaintance instead of a beautiful girl in a superhero costume. Despite the coolness, Remy's common sense had already formed an opinion that there was more than just a friendship between those two. Whatever it was they had going on between them, as he looked back at Rogue's bitter expression he realized it was seriously messing with his girlfriend's sanity.

"Care to look at your course, Chere?" He mumbled the reply into her ear and watched, as she suddenly seemed to realize she was not alone.

By the time the announcement came over the speakers for the first round of flyers to take their marks at the starting line, Remy had watched Rogue stumble through a brief stretch routine and a few last minute outfit checks to make sure she had nothing on her costume that would add any extra weight. If she had just been able to put her normal amount of focus into the tasks, he was almost certain that she could have been a real threat to the other flyers. But the look of distance in her eyes as she accepted the well wishes of her friends, before walking off to the starting line made Remy think twice. Unless Rogue could get her mind together, she was going to be left in the dust.

"Chere," He pulled her aside and watched her large emerald eyes search his face for something he couldn't recognize. "You can do this if you just focus. Don't let them get to you."

"Yeah." She nodded her head and offered him a smile that seemed bleak compared to the beautiful grins he had watched her produce when they fought and flirted in the past. "I got this."

"Keep focused, mon coeur." He kissed her gloved hand and offered a quick wink to try and raise her spirits, "Maybe if you win we can have our own private celebration tonight, no?"

She rolled her eyes at him and snapped out a comment that made the weight on his chest lift a little. The real spunky and wild Rogue was still in that mess of worry and disappointment; he just had to find a way to bring her out of this funk. If only she would have agreed to let him beat up a certain blonde…

As Rogue stood at the starting line, she began to take a quick look at the competition beside her. The man to her left was far taller than her but had the tiniest bit of a belly protruding through his fitted shirt. She chalked it up to a possible lack of commitment to his training and figured he might be a little less driven than the others. To her right were Victoria and another woman who was smaller and meeker than the other female challengers. On her back was a pair of extremely large silver wings that she stretched nervously as they took their positions. With less weight to move and a pair of wings that large, Rogue figured she would probably be the toughest competitor.

The starting pistol sounded before Rogue could totally pull her mind back from her own thoughts. She flew from the line as fast as she could, but had trouble catching up to others who had only a second head start. When they hit the first round of rings, she was able to pass the only man in their group and zoom up to the winged girl. They battled side-by-side; desperate for even a second of time difference as they swung through the various markers.

A wild spark from one of the flame rings hit the edges of the girl's feathers when they started the highest climb into the sky. The girl let out a scream of pain and immediately dropped down multiple feet, putting her at an almost inescapable disadvantage. Internally, Rogue felt a sudden urge to go and make sure she was okay, but she tried to ignore the feeling and push forward to the highest ring since they were in the middle of a contest.

As her body shot through the last wide circle and she started the sudden downward fall to the tunnel maze, she finally caught sight of Victoria. The girl moved with impressive skill through each ring that greeted her on the downward plunge. Rogue fought the urge to call Victoria a skilled opponent, but as she struggled to make it through each of the far spaced rings in hot pursuit, she relented to herself that the course was not exactly easy. It wasn't as if Rogue wasn't a talented flyer, though. As she zoomed through the last ring and hit the tunnel she could see Victoria's shoes, proving the girl's lead was being diminished with each passing minute.

Inside the maze-like tunnels, a new sensation greeted Rogue; darkness. Anyone would know that a tunnel would be dark, but she had assumed there would be a lot more light streaming through the plastic material the tunnel was made of. She remembered the tunnels she crawled through, as a kid in the park had always been full of light from the bold sun rays shining down. This tunnel seemed to be unaware that the sun was even up in the sky. As she tried to keep her speed high enough to catch Victoria, she silently prayed that her various choices of turns would lead to the right exit.

"Not bad!" Victoria's voice floated through the wide tunnel and sent Rogue's head swerving back and forth to try and locate the girl.

"You're better than I would have thought."

The second comment was louder, and if she concreted she could tell it was coming from somewhere on the right. She could barely see her hand in front of her face, but Rogue twisted her course and shot over to the right thinking it may lead to an exit. She saw no signs of Victoria as she picked up speed once more, determined to catch the girl even if she ran into a wall trying.

The sudden pain hit her without warning and forced her to instantly regret even joking about hitting a wall. She couldn't identify what was going on, but something had definitely attacked her. Why else would she feel such a strong, searing pain coursing through her back? It was as if her very spine had been hit by a semi, forcing her to curl into a ball for a moment and drift off course.

As the pain started to subside, she felt a new, formidable fire begin to race through her chest. This round had nothing to do with attacking your opponents! It was just supposed to be speed trials to get the first round of data before the more serious levels started. If Victoria thought she was going to get away with those kinds of dirty tricks, she was sorely mistaken. The growl that escaped her throat sounded more primal than she expected, but it only served to further her cause as she pushed her speed to its max level.

Somehow, possibly during her moment of anger and weakness, the tunnels had shifted their position once again. As soon as she flew forward, she felt the plastic wall shatter against her force. Pieces flew down to the field giving the audience a small shower of dark blue plastic rain as she continued her onslaught through the air and right past the finish marker.

The landing was extremely ungraceful, due to an increased speed and lack of self-control, but she was up from the floor seconds after creating a small dirt trail. Her eyes narrowed as she scanned the field and located her target only a few feet away. Victoria seemed unaffected by her cousin's brash show and rough landing. She stared back at the matching green eyes with an expression that almost seemed annoyed Rogue was angry with her once again.

"So you want to play dirty?" The girl growled out in a deep voice as she stomped over to Victoria and somehow managed to avoid shoving her into the stands, "If you have a problem with me than settle it with me. Don't try some cheap ass stunt in a dark tunnel!"

"I have a problem with you?" Victoria's voice was firm, but she kept it diplomatic due to her years, upon years, of etiquette lessons. She refused to break down and start yelling and cursing in public like her cousin. "You seem to be the one who has a problem with me, cousin."

"I know you painted that wall and I know that you just tried to blindside me in that tunnel! And who knows what you are doing to Jude. He may not be able to see that you are up to something, but I can see everything."

"What she is doing, to Jude" Jude's voice suddenly joined their conversation as he walked up to the scene, "is dating him, Rogue."

Rogue watched with unblinking eyes as Jude's hand grasped Victoria's and their fingers intertwined smoothly. The look covering Victoria's eyes was a mix of stress and relief upon seeing Jude appear at her side. As he smiled sweetly back at her, Rogue mentally tried to swallow the sight before her. She knew that they had supposedly been working closely to put on these games for the past few months, but when had that line crossed from coworkers to a romantic relationship?

"You what?" She stammered out as the announcers above them declared Victoria the winner and announced Alex would be given a penalty for completing the race through a self-made tunnel exit, putting her into third place behind the only male in their race group.

"I think you heard," Jude's voice held that same low quality that harkened back to his days of dealing with Griffin.

Rogue rubbed her head suddenly feeling as if everything she once thought she knew for certain was being tested. She couldn't trust her friend, she couldn't trust the people of Lenox to get along with the Morphs, and she definitely couldn't trust her so-called cousin. Wasn't there anything in this place that was staying the same? Her head began to pound harder as the self-doubt and anger twisted together into an unhealthy combination fueling the fire in her body. She couldn't do this anymore.

With one last look to the person she had once trusted deeply, she shot into the sky and flew away from the madness and the noise. She needed to be by herself to try and get her thoughts straightened out before anyone else could throw another curveball at her. Below her feet, she could hear the X-men yelling up at her to come back, but she ignored the voices and couldn't recall when they eventually crossed into the land of silence like the rest of her thoughts.

She wasn't sure when her flight finally stopped, but as she floated to the ground, she instantly realized where she had landed. The large stone statues almost looked like they were touching the sky, which was decorated in beautiful shades of pink and yellow as the sun set in the distance. There was an unexpected comfort in the calmness of the four dark stone pillars because it was the closest she could be to her lost family members.

The largest of the towers was situated behind a waist high square of marble that housed the only writing on the entire landmark. She ran her hands over the words, 'For all the lives lost in the attack on the castle,' and let her mind wander briefly back to the image of her dad smiling down at her at the beach. She hadn't mentioned the incident to anyone, even her mother, for fear of what they would think of her. Besides, she felt the reunion was private enough to be kept just between her and her lost loved ones.

She pulled her hand back instantly as the words ended and the date of her sixth birthday appeared on the stone. Lydia had been against putting the date of the attack on the memorial statue for fear of how her daughter would feel, but Rogue had pushed her into agreeing to display it. It may have been her birthday once, but now it was a date that she hoped would never be forgotten for its newer significance. Hiding the date would be like trying to pretend the animosity and hatred hadn't reared up and destroyed her family. The last thing she would have would be letting her father and siblings be lost to the pages of history.

"You would have listened," She mumbled allowing herself a moment of pity since she felt closer to her father in the shadow of his memorial marker. "Then again, you probably would have been able to create peace throughout the entire stinkin' dimension by now…"

She sat down on the bench placed in the middle of the landmark and tried to picture what her father would say if he were there. From what she had read in the book her mother had given her, Thomas Lenox had been one of the most adamant supporters of Morph rights. He had been trying, before his untimely end, to create a new policy that would try to make a line of communication with the Morphs possible. From his notes in the book, she found out the measure had been poorly received in the council meetings and gained him quite a few angry rants from concerned council members.

"You'd be willing to fight for what you knew was right…" She muttered to herself and lay on the bench as the strangely intense fire began to grow in her belly again. "You were going to make it possible even if you had to fight all by yourself. You were willing to resort to whatever you had to do..." The fire began to increase, giving her a bizarre sense of confidence, "And that is exactly what I'm going to do. There will be peace in Lenox, no matter what I have to do."

She closed her eyes to picture what method she could take to uncover the secrets hiding around her and felt her pounding headache ease as she started to picture throwing her true weight around the dimension. She had the authority to make things happen and some strange chord in her chest started to swell as she imagined herself taking charge. It was weird to enjoy the idea of having power, but a new force was starting to blossom in her mind and heart creating that same strange warmth she had been feeling lately.

When she opened her eyes again, the sky was dark and she could see nothing but stars above her. Her limbs were sore and seemed to be aching with each movement she forced out of them. Whether it was falling asleep on a stone bench that had caused the pain or if it was a delayed reaction from the flying course, she didn't know. Despite the pain slowly coursing through her joints, she flew off to make it back to Meridan before her mother or the X-men sent out some type of search party.

Meridan wasn't close to the memorial statue outside of the city of Kurt, but it was an easy distance to cover when she used her full speed. She expected everyone to be fast asleep in their beds, due to the late hour, but as she approached she immediately noticed a group of mutants and guards standing near the main ceremony stage. Their voices were strong and seemed to be growing angrier by the second, as she flew closer and dropped to the ground.

"Where you been, Chere?" Remy's voice greeted her from his spot next to Kurt and Logan only a few feet away.

"I went flying," She answered quickly, desperate to know what was going on now, "What happened here?"

"Another attack," Kurt told her with a distant look in his bright eyes.

She couldn't imagine what was big enough to force the presence of so many people, but as she pushed her way to the front of the crowd she was greeted with a shocking sight she had somehow missed since the crowd had taken her attention. Instead of a large stage and beautiful decorations, there was complete destruction.

The stage had been turned into nothing more than broken pieces of lumber haphazardly piled amongst the torn decorations and smashed sculptures. The banner that had once displayed the proud emblem of the games was torn into shreds that blew in the wind like depressing streamers. In place of the peaceful backdrop cover, was a new paint job that declared, 'The Blood Of The People Will Flood The Streets!'.

"Please," She came up to one of the many guards trying to rope off the area, and noted how they all immediately gave her their full attention, "Tell me someone saw what happened."

"Actually," the guard pointed over to another guard currently being treated by a medical staffer, "This time, we have an eyewitness to the event."

The mere mention of someone who could point a finger at the mysterious attacker gave Rogue a flash of hope. This would finally put everything to rest and prove that either she was right about Victoria or that there was someone else to look for. After the paint smear on the woman's hand the night before, Rogue was almost certain that the guard would tell her exactly what she wanted to hear.